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melbourne: general info
· city links
· history
· hostels
tours
· things to do
· wine country
· read reviews
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Melbourne is in a truly enviable position. Surrounded
by burgeoning wine regions - several of which have histories going
back to the 19the century - Victoria's capital is a member of
the global network of Great Wine Capitals, which includes cities
like Bordeaux, San Francisco, Cape Town and Florence.
The city - itself a cosmopolitan centre of food and wine excellence
- is flanked by a great diversity of world-class wineries, accommodation
and restaurants plus a full spectrum of ancillary attractions,
from scenic views to classic beaches, exceptional seaside golf
course to mountain retreats and country markets. All are little
more than an hour's drive from the Melbourne CBD.
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley was the most important wine region in Australia
for several decades in the 19th century. Its reds, based around
cabernet sauvignon, were often successful in major international
competitions. Global economic recession and pressure from other
forms of agriculture ended all its winemaking in the 1920s. The
renaissance began in the 1970s, with small hobby style vineyards
that spread from cabernet sauvignon to pinot noir and chardonnay.
Today there are dozens of wineries, many ideally set up to receive
the wine visitor.
Mornington Peninsula
Wine has irreversibly changed the landscape of melbourne's traditional
holiday playground. The Mornington Peninsula had very little history
as a wine region until the 1970s, when the first small weekend-scale
vineyards were developed. Since then the area has become a patchwork
of vines and, more recently , olives as wave after wave of successful
Melbourne businesspeople became infected by the viticulture bug
and replaced rolling hills of pasture with grapes. From the warmer
end of the region around Dromana and Moorooduc, to the cooler
sites atop Red Hill and Main Ridge, the Peninsula offers the traveller
a rare mix of stunning scenery and views, excellent food and handcrafted
wine.
Geelong and Bellarine Peninsula
A major Victorian wine region in the second half of the 19th century,
Geelong is slowly re-emerging as producer of distinctive table
wines that ten to sit apart from most mainstream Australian styles.
Since the mid-1960s, the region has seen a steady planting of
new vineyards peaking with extensive new development over the
last decade, especially on the Bellarine Peninsula. With a relatively
cool climate, Geelong's main viticultural challenges are its mean
soils, low rainfall and the strength of prevailing winds, especially
on the Peninsula itself.
Macedon Ranges and Sunbury
Part of the Great Dividing Range and the Central Victorian Highlands,
the Macedon Ranges extend northwards from the picturesque surrounds
of Mount Macedon and Hanging Rock to include towns such as Kyneton
and Malmsbury and the rolling granite hillsides that surround
them. Sunbury is further south, but a good deal warmer. An important
wine producers in the 19th century, its drier landscape presents
a more serious challenge to viticulture.
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