King Valley Region

Location
 Zone - North East Victoria
State - Victoria

Map Reference
 Latitude 36 degrees and 25 minutes South
Longitude 146 degrees and 20 minutes East

Elevation
 150 - 800 metres above sea level

Subregions
 Myrrhee and Whitlands

Introduction
 Until 1970 Italian immigrants that settled in King Valley after the Second World War rapidly built up a thriving tobacco industry. In 1970 two King Valley farmers independently decided to plant vines.

The extremely fertile soils of the King Valley, together with the favourable climate and plentiful winter-spring rainfall guaranteed that the vines grew rapidly and successfully, as the tobacco plants did in the past.

Throughout the 1980's both the number of growers and the size of the vineyards continued to grow rapidly and suddenly the King Valley was among Victoria's major producers of premium grapes.
Primary Grape Varieties
White
 Chardonnay 130 ha
Riesling 70 ha
Sauvignon Blanc 65 ha
Semillon 10 ha
Chenin Blanc 5 ha
Other 70 ha
Total White 350 ha
Red
 Cabernet Sauvignon 325 ha
Shiraz 200 ha
Merlot 195 ha
Pinot Noir 65 ha
Other 175 ha
Total Red 960 ha
Primary Wine Styles

Sparkling
Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are used by many of Australia's leading sparkling wine makers as blend components. Brown Brothers' vintage and non-vintage sparkling wines are exclusively made from King Valley fruit and are recently enjoying considerable national wine show success.

Chardonnay
Chardonnay has now overtaken Riesling as the major white grape of the King Valley Region, utilised in both table and sparkling wine. The wine is soft and rich, with peach, fig and tropical fruit flavours.

Riesling
Mainly made as a dry style, however some late-harvest wines are also being made.

Cabernet Sauvignon
The most widely planted variety in the King Valley has its strongest grip in the lower elevations. It matures readily, producing large yields. The ensuing wines are soft but full of flavour, making an excellent blend ingredient for commercial Cabernet Sauvignon that is designed for early consumption. The flavours are in the sweet black berry range, with just a hint of mint and some herbaceous notes.