Arinto – a Portuguese white grape – is bright in colour, youthful and alluring. The scent, too, in citrusy notes and honeysuckle with a gentle, saline-like savouriness. This example, from Heathcote’s Whistling Eagle, is six years young and looking like it was newly bottled. Winemaker Ian Rathjen is a huge fan. Arinto, a newcomer to the region, not only holds its acid, Ian says, but it has the added benefit of being super crisp and juicy as a youngster. It also ages a treat. It bodes well for the future.
Arinto is but one Mediterranean grape variety making a name for itself in a region that has traditionally been associated with a single grape – shiraz.
For that, we need to thank the wine producers who drew the official Geographical Indication boundary for the district (registering it in 2002) and choosing to go big rather than small. It could have gone either way with one group favouring Heathcote that took in a 70km long, skinny area from Tooborac in the south to Rochester in the north, and the other group preferring a much smaller area surrounding the town. The former group won the day.
Today, we are all the beneficiaries. While Heathcote shiraz is rightly a defining feature of the region, so is a large, ever-expanding selection of Rhône Valley and Mediterranean grape varieties. Happily, the region is more than big enough for such an exciting exploration. The Chalmers Vineyard at Colbinabbin is home to 27 grape varieties alone. It was the site for a recent afternoon tasting that took in everything from Chalmers Felicitas sparkling fiano and Jamsheed's pecorino through to Munari's vermentino, Vinea Marson's barbera and Syrahmi's Garden of Earthly Delights Nebbiolo.
The wines offered a complex journey – grapes like ribolla and piedirosso aren’t exactly well-known in Australia but, at the same time, are totally compelling. The tasting was filled with plenty of emotion, along with healthy debate from winemakers leading the way and embracing the kind of risk-taking that comes with a region on the move.
“Sangiovese on balance probably offers more opportunity than nebbiolo in the region,” suggests Simon Osicka from Paul Osicka. “Heathcote sangiovese may, in time, prove to be at the forefront for that variety in Australia.” Simon's thoughts are echoed by Adam Foster at Syrahmi who also puts forward grenache as an emerging, exciting variety for the region. So does Tobias Ansted at Tellurian. “I am certain Heathcote grenache will develop its own unique voice,” he says. “Like with shiraz, site will play its part. There are a range of soil types in the Heathcote region that will no doubt produce some unique expressions.”
Mario Marson at Vinea Marson loves the phenolic intensity of friulano, which is a white grape of Italy’s Friuli region. “I’m not inventing anything new,“ he explains, “both my grandparents made fruilano.”
The vote, at the moment, has fiano and nebbiolo in the lead. The Heathcote tasting saw a solid selection of seven fiano and nine nebbiolo wines. The fiano grape doesn’t like (or need) too much oak. The standouts bringing good concentration, texture and a naturally bright, citrusy, appley, easy-going flow with the added fresh crunch of acidity. The grape can also be elevated by a lovely savouriness.
Heathcote nebbiolo comes with a much broader flavour and savoury palate. It delivers everything from the pretty, floral-enhanced beauty of the grape, through to the more complex. The better examples are those with a lifting and starring natural tannin role. An amaro-like herbal bitters can bring an extra layer of interest. Age of vines plays a big role in some of the top examples. “I love growing nebbiolo; I love making nebbiolo,” says Emily McNally at Jasper Hill, whose father, Ron Laughton, planted the first nebbiolo grapes in the region in 1991.
Heathcote is a long GI that's filled with a range of microclimates – the cooler south and the warmer north – and comprises of decomposed granite (Tooborac), right through to schist (Graytown). There's a distinguishing feature, the 510 million-year-old red rock Cambrian greenstone soils, which start 20km east of Heathcote and run through the town, turning north along the Mount Ida and Mount Camel ranges.
Second-generation winemaker Liam Anderson of Wild Duck Creek has seven vineyards scattered across the region, with a strong focus on Rhône varieties, noting a 10-day difference in picking from north to south. “It’s such a glorious region viticulturally, with less humidity, lots of sunshine – not baking hot but warm – and low disease pressure. Most varieties work well.”
Kim Chalmers at Chalmers speaks of the important role the region’s diurnal range plays. The gap in temperature – between warm days and cold nights – is important for the retention of natural acidity in grapes. Wine producers are also looking toward a more sustainable future, with around 700ha of approximately 1800ha in the region now accredited with Sustainable Winegrowing Australia. All of this places Heathcote’s most celebrated grape – shiraz – in a very good place.
When delving into the 'definitive' character of Heathcote shiraz, it pays to leave preconceptions at the door. There is no one style, only producer interpretations that reflect their soil and their own individual winemaking choices. Adam Foster is a former chef and has a strong philosophy about ageing his wines before release – 6.5 years for his La La series and five years for his Home Block. “I always knew that the wines were better with age,” he says. He also loves the role that ceramic eggs (for maturation) play in his wines, namely a finer texture and an extension of the palate.
Simon Osicka, former group red winemaker at Hardys, worked at Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in the northern Rhône in 2010 and believes it is a “strength” of the region that a number of local makers also have experience with Rhône syrah. Liam Anderson is establishing his own style at Wild Duck Creek. It's one that embraces the lovely richness of shiraz but with an added fineness. And that means more moderate alcohols than consumers might have seen in the past. “I’m not into 17 per cent alcohols,” he says.
For the past 10 years, Heathcote winemakers have gathered annually for a deep dive into the local product. The descriptors most associated with Heathcote shiraz? 'Powerful', 'generous' and 'seductive'. Warmer years, such as 2018 and 2019, bring it on in spades. Cooler vintages like 2022 and 2023 can see finer levels of spice, pepper and florals. Overall, producers are looking for good depth of flavour, vibrancy and texture.
