Heathcote

Heathcote is fine wine and grazing country surrounded by ironbark bush and historic mining cuts. The heart of the region is a long band of rusty red cambrian soil winding up to the Mount Camel Range. The secret of deeply coloured Heathcote shiraz is buried in the magical earth. The rock star style is uber-cool on the sommelier scene and names like Wild Duck Creek and Jasper Hill have achieved cult status followings. They are intensely flavoured and seductive wines with a plush, dark core and long, fine tannin profile. The region also makes good examples of cabernet sauvignon, merlot and blends. Smaller plantings of malbec, sangiovese and nebbiolo can also be found. Chardonnay and viognier make up the region’s premier whites. While the region is home to a number of producers, many wineries outside the region source Heathcote shiraz for their most exclusive labels.
Heathcote is one of five central Victorian regions. It is situated 100 km north of Melbourne on the northern side of the Great Dividing Range between Bendigo and the Goulburn Valley. While Heathcote’s first vineyard was established in1858, it was not until the 1960s and 70s that modern commercial viticulture took off. It has been a meteoric rise, with over 1,300 ha of vine stretching throughout the district today.
Heathcote enjoys a temperate climate moderated by cool winds that tunnel down the range. Rainfall is distributed evenly throughout the year. The terroir varies from eastern sands to granite in the south and the red calcerous clay of the famous Heathcote greenstone bed in the centre.