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Australia

Yarra Valley

2 500 ha under vine

Soils
Grey loam and red volcanic clay on cool hillsides
Climate
Cool maritime — one of Australia's coolest mainland regions

On the map

Yarra Valley — 2 500 haMendoza — 150 000 haCentral Valley — 120 000 haNingxia — 40 000 haMarlborough — 29 000 haColumbia Valley — 25 000 haSonoma County — 24 000 haNapa Valley — 18 000 haPaso Robles — 16 000 haStellenbosch — 15 000 haWillamette Valley — 11 500 haBarossa Valley — 11 500 haMaipo Valley — 11 000 haSwartland — 10 000 haCanelones — 7 500 haMcLaren Vale — 7 000 haCasablanca Valley — 6 000 haMargaret River — 5 800 haNiagara Peninsula — 5 500 haClare Valley — 5 500 haCoonawarra — 5 700 haHawke's Bay — 5 000 haFinger Lakes — 4 000 haOkanagan Valley — 3 000 haHunter Valley — 2 500 haTasmania — 2 000 haCentral Otago — 2 000 haConstantia — 450 haYarra ValleyMendozaCentral ValleyNingxiaMarlboroughColumbia ValleySonoma CountyNapa ValleyPaso RoblesStellenboschWillamette ValleyBarossa ValleyMaipo ValleySwartlandCanelonesMcLaren ValeCasablanca ValleyMargaret RiverNiagara PeninsulaClare ValleyCoonawarraHawke's BayFinger LakesOkanagan ValleyHunter ValleyTasmaniaCentral OtagoConstantia
Blob size ≈ vineyard area · approximate locations · coastlines from Natural Earth

In the cool hills east of Melbourne, the Yarra Valley is Victoria's most celebrated region and one of Australia's coolest — the home of its finest Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and of elegant traditional-method sparkling. A world away from the warm-country blockbusters, the Yarra makes wines of restraint, freshness and Burgundian finesse.

Settled by vignerons in the 1830s, abandoned, then triumphantly replanted from the 1960s, it now draws Champagne houses and Burgundy-minded growers alike. It is the graceful, cool-climate face of Australian wine.

The vineyard

Indicative share of plantings

The wines

Yarra Valley Pinot Noir Red wine

Through time

Indicative presence index, 0–100Origins & Antiquity — 0The Monastic Middle Ages — 0Exploration & the Fortified Age — 0Classifications & the Golden Age — 10Phylloxera & the World Crises — 15The Modern & New World Era — 75Antiquity0500150017001875195075
Classifications & the Golden Age 1700 Phylloxera & the World Crises 1875 The Modern & New World Era 1950