In the cool hills east of Melbourne, the Yarra Valley makes Australia's most Burgundian Pinot Noir — elegant, fine-boned and fragrant, all red cherry and forest floor, a world away from the country's warm-climate blockbusters. The cool maritime climate and old volcanic soils give the wines freshness, finesse and real capacity to age.
One of Australia's oldest wine regions, replanted from the 1960s by growers chasing coolness and subtlety, the Yarra also excels at Chardonnay and sparkling. Its Pinot is the graceful, cool-climate face of Australian red.