A goldmine for wine
The gold rush is alive and well in Victoria’s Bendigo, only these days that gold is red – red wine. The same soil that once promised riches through precious metal is now producing award-winning wines that are attracting fans from far and wide. Less than two hours north-west of Melbourne, Bendigo is a vibrant regional city rich with history and alive with a contemporary buzz.
You’ll find wineries folded into the forested rolling hills and valleys outside the city, with many cellar doors offering a chance to taste the region’s finest in a friendly, down-to-earth place. Bendigo is one of Victoria’s largest wine regions by area, but it’s dominated by small, family-run wineries handcrafting bold wines. There are great bottles of white coming out of the region – Chardonnay being the standout – but the headline story here is red wine. Well over three-quarters of wines made here are of the crimson kind, with Shiraz leading the charge followed by Cabernet Sauvignon.
If you like your wine with a side of great food and entertainment, Bendigo is your wine region. It’s got a thriving arts and culture scene, with the renowned Bendigo Art Gallery at the centre, and a calendar filled with popular events including a writer’s festival and a bevy of food and wine events. Diverse dining experiences can be found all over the region, hidden down laneways and looking out over hilly countryside.
Punch and power
The Bendigo wine region’s first vines were planted in the 1850s, not long after Bendigo itself was born. This early wine industry thrived, until economic pressures and changing consumer tastes contributed to the end of that era. In the late 1960s, the wine region was reborn when local pharmacist Stuart Anderson planted the Balgownie Vineyard, now one of the region’s most important vineyards. He quickly impressed with his powerful, deeply coloured, flavour-packed wines, and new vineyards and wineries soon sprung up.
With long hours of summer sunshine and crisp nights, Bendigo’s climate makes it well suited for producing the punchy, robust reds it’s famous for. Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon wines are full-flavoured and ready to drink now or store in the cellar, while Chardonnays generally have a fantastic balance of fruit flavour and zingy acidity.
The wine making community in the Bendigo wine region is full of hardworking, down-to-earth characters, many of whom you’ll chat with in laid-back cellar doors.
