King Valley

King Valley is one of the places to visit for wine in Victoria, Australia. When you drive from Sydney to Melbourne, add a day or two for visiting the wine districts along the Hume Highway, the main road between Sydney and Melbourne.

The first Web site to visit is King Valley Vignerons and the critical page is Wineries. The following wineries are a great start for your first visit.

• La Cantina
• Brown Brothers
• Boggy Creek Vineyards

La Cantina

Web site: lacantinakingvalley.com.au

Gino Corsini makes his wines without preservative. To keep the preservative out he has to make his wines in a dry style. I like dry wines. La Cantina is a definite stop on my visits to King Valley. The 2008 Sangiovese is a must have. Do not tell anyone about the Sangiovese. I do not want La Cantina selling out.

Brown Brothers

Web site: brownbrothers.com.au

Brown Brothers are good at developing unusual grape varieties. Go though their list and taste some varieties you have never tried before. You will have tasted Cabernet Franc in a blend with other reds but are unlikely to know exactly what the variety adds to the blend. Taste the Cabernet Franc at Brown Brothers then buy some bottles for your dinner parties so other people can learn about Cabernet Franc.

Boggy Creek Vineyards

Web site: boggycreekwines.com.au

The Boggy Creek sparkling rose is worth a taste. when you are after Italian wine varieties and the La Cantina wines are a touch too dry for you, try the Boggy Creek wines. Boggy Creek is at a higher altitude than the valley floor which makes some of the wines a touch better and slightly dry, drier than the Brown brothers equivalents but not as dry as La Cantina. Their prices are slightly higher than the cheapest wines in the King Valley and are a long way down from the most expensive. Given the higher altitude and the clean taste, their prices are reasonable.

Graeme Ray is the owner, winemaker, and a nice bloke.

Accommodation

Look through the accommodation section of kingvalleytourism.org.au. Overnight accommodation of the motel style is along the highway. King Valley is oriented more towards weekend mini holidays. Many of the wineries are only open on weekends.