Great WIne in Yarra Valley

Wines from the Yarra Valley, Australia
(Great WIne in Yarra Valley)

The Yarra Valley wine report leading the Australian continent: Great WIne in Yarra Valley

Australia, the world's fourth largest wine exporter. Once simply called the 'Third World wine,' Australian wine stands shoulder to shoulder with wine powerhouses, and the role of Victoria's Yarra Valley wineries cannot be ignored. Yarra Valley, the 'blessed land' with the ideal climate and soil for grape cultivation, is Australia's top winery tour route and offers a panoramic view of the history of Australian wine.

Drunk on wine, intoxicated by the scenery

The Yarra Valley Winery Tour starts at Belgrave Station. There are quite a variety of ways to get to the winery, and it's quite convenient. However, the reason many people go to Puffing Billy from Belgrave Station is simple, even at the cost of transferring trains and buses. Puffing Billy, which departs from Belgrave Station, is the oldest existing steam locomotive in Australia and is a famous Australian specialty, having been in operation since 1900. Moreover, when traveling to the winery by steam locomotive, you can't miss the scenery created by the Dandenong Mountains, lush forests, and Emerald Lake.

For 110 years, Puffing Billy transported timber and crops from the Dandenon region to the city, but when roads were built nearby, it was repurposed and transformed into a tourist train. Currently, after Puffing Billy Lie changed from a freight train to a tourist train, about 600 retired drivers volunteer and operate here, all of whom maintain their original attire. As the train runs with the sound of horns signaling departure and white steam radiating steam, the scenery of farms and rural towns formed along the railway tracks centered around the valley adds to the charm.

As a bonus, you can enjoy a free forest bath on the train while breathing in the fresh air from the dense forests of the Dandenong Mountains. As mentioned earlier, Puffing Billy is not just a means of transportation but a famous tourist destination. It offers a variety of day tours to help you experience Melbourne's eastern attractions, such as the Penguin Parade on Phillip Island, Hillsville Wildlife Sanctuary, Ferguson's Winery Restaurant, and Yarra Valley wine plantations. The tours include first-class salon-style seats with top-quality wine, lunch, and dinner, making them popular among couples and couples. It takes two hours round trip from Belgrave Station to Gembrook, with a railway length of 24 kilometers. The train passes through five stations: Menzies Creek, Emerald Town, Lakeside, and Zembrook. If you're heading to a Yarra winery, get off at Menzies Creek and transfer to a bus.

The Past, Today, and Future of Australian Wine

Australia's wine history is about 200 years, which is shorter than that of wine breeding countries, but it is by no means inferior in terms of wine quality. With Yarra Valley's wine history spanning 170 years, its role in the success of Australian wine cannot be overlooked. Yering Station was the first winery in Yarra Valley, established in 1838 by the Riley brothers from Scotland. However, if being the oldest is all they can claim, Yering would not be considered a representative Victorian wine. In 1889, it won the Grand Prix at the Paris World's Fair, hosted by France, the wine nation, recognizing its quality. Since then, wines awarded at wine competitions in Australia and around the world, along with its history, are displayed in the corridor leading to the cellar.

The long, first-story building on the side houses entrances to the wine bar, restaurant, gallery, and wine cellar. The underground cellar, built in 1859, is lined with old French oak barrels, and the annex for wine tastings houses a shop selling wines and souvenirs produced by Yeling, as well as a gallery displaying artworks. On the first floor, The Wine Bar features floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the vast estate, and a variety of menus have been developed to pair well with each wine, enhancing the flavor of the wines. Château Jering, with a history as long as wine, is an accommodation built for wine lovers enjoying winery tours, and along with the elm path at Yeling Station, it is a historic site designated as a cultural heritage. With its British-style architecture, antique furnishings, and cozy atmosphere, it blended with the surrounding scenery, making it a popular spot for weddings and weekend getaways.

Domaine Chandon, the only winery operated by Moët Chandon in Australia, is also located in Green Point in the Yarra region. Green Point is named because summer arrives earliest and lasts long, making it the last remaining green area in Yara. Domaine Chandon, one of the world's four major wine estates, previously sold sparkling wines sold domestically as 'Chandon' and exports as 'Green Point,' but since 2000, they have unified their sales under Green Point. This is because they have grown to the point where they no longer need to rely on the reputation of French Moët Sangdon.

The hallmark of Green Point wines is their elegant and sophisticated structure, which contrasts with the bold and flashy style typical of typical Australian wines. In particular, Green Point's signature sparkling wines are made by selecting vineyards ideal for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir grapes to produce over 50 types of base wines, cultivating grapes in the ideal vineyards for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, adopting the traditional French sparkling wine production method of Métode Tradicionel, and then bottling and secondary fermentation to create a complex and perfectly balanced taste and aroma. The wines completed through this process show the same quality as top-tier French champagnes, but the style clearly reveals the color of Green Point.

The Charm of Wine

The Green Point tour teaches the history of the domain, how to make still and sparkling wines, and directly observe the winemaker's production process. For wine tasting, you move to the Green Point Room to taste four types of stills and four types of sparkling wine, concluding the two-hour wine tour. The wine cellar stores 30,000 bottles of wine in the Riddleling Hall, where the wines are handcrafted by turning the bottles side to side every day for 25 days, twice a day, every day, bringing out the oak atmosphere. Green Point wines, which have passed this rigorous traditional production process and strict quality standards, have received excellent reviews from major global media and the wine industry, setting the standard for Australian sparkling wines.

Except for Christmas, the winery tours here are open to anyone and anyone can visit at any time, every day. Guided tours are free for about 30 minutes every day at 11 AM, 1 PM, and 3 PM, with mineral water and cheese provided for wine tastings. The last winery we visited, Rottsford, is small in scale but has won awards multiple times at Australian wine competitions. Yarra Valley is famous for its sparkling wines, but it's not just sparkling wines. Since Rosford produces ENldjsks quality red wines, it's a good idea to focus on red wines when tasting. Rothford's wines are produced in the Yarra Valley and the Masedon Mountains, producing such excellent grape varieties that they have never missed an award every year, exported to Quebec in Canada, Ontario, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States.

Rotsford's fame is largely due to local cultural events organized there, rivaling the wines here. In summer, Rothford opens part of its winery for concerts by famous singers, jazz, sexphone, piano, and more, and is used as a campground in connection with schools, attracting crowds year-round. These various events make Rothford Winery not just a vineyard producing good wine or a tourist attraction, but also appealing to wine lovers and those who don't know wine, enjoying it without leaving out.

Photo source:

http://www.tourism.australia.com/

http://www.travelvictoria.com.au

http://www.experienceyarravalley.com.au

http://www.yarravalleylodge.com

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