The Heathcote region, nestled between the Goulburn Valley and Bendigo regions is famous as a premium shiraz producing area. The region is acknowledged as one of Australia’s wine icons.
Like many areas in central Victoria it was given over to sheep grazing in its earliest white history, followed by gold mining and then in the twentieth century wine production. The first vines appeared in the 1860s it was not until the 1960s that the real wave of development occurred. This development continues to this day with large investments being committed to new vineyards and wineries.
Heathcote has become recognised as a producer of extraordinary Shiraz wines, even rivalling those of the Rhone Valley from where the grape cuttings were originally sourced. It is home to some flagship winemakers who have achieved international fame for their representations of Australian Shiraz. Notable wines of the Heathcote region recognised even by those unfamiliar with the area include, Wild Duck Creek Estate - home of the famed and expensive Duck Muck; Jasper Hill - an organic grower producing premium fruit for its highly sought after wines and Paul Osicka Wines - one of the longer established wine producers in the Heathcote wine region. However, other wines have emerged to confirm that the region as not only a major producer of ultra-premium Shiraz but some of the highest quality red wines full stop. And no, we haven’t forgotten white wines such as Riesling and Viognier to name but two.
Although Heathcote is regarded as the equal, if not the greater of any other red wine region in Australia, the scarcity of its wines has left the district in relative obscurity. Its wines are perceived as exclusive, not only because of their extremely high quality, but because of the difficulty in obtaining them. The word out in the international markets amongst wine buyers is that "Heathcote is hot, but don’t visit the place because there's no wine for sale." This is changing with new plantings and new wineries coming on stream and the growing band of boutique Heathcote winemakers preparing to assert themselves upon the domestic and global markets.
Residing to the north of the Great Dividing Range the region is at elevations between 160m and 380m. For the most part, the soil under vine is Cambrian - red and deep with excellent water holding capacity. As a consequence some vignerons do not irrigate and aim for smaller fruit intensely rich in flavour. The region’s rainfall is evenly distributed between the seasons and the temperature range is defined as temperate, with cooling winds emanating from the south.
The town of Heathcote after which the wine region is named, is small having a population of about 3,500 – a far cry from the 35,000 at the height of the golden days. Still thriving and typically rural, it is nestled in a picturesque bush landscape. It is situated on the Northern Highway 120 km north of Melbourne, an easy one and half hours drive. Located at the junction of two major highways, at a convenient distance from Melbourne, Bendigo and a number of large towns. Sited on the banks of McIvor Creek, the town was first named McIvor after a gold prospector who arrived there in 1853, Heathcote prospered during the 1850s to 1860s but declining gold discoveries caused the population to wane by the 1880s.
The local tourism industry caters well to the wine traveller with a range of accommodation and eateries in the town of Heathcote and surrounds. Cultural, recreational and eco-tourism activities now blend with farming and viticulture. Heathcote is encircled by box-ironbark forests, which have a range of interesting bush walks, and in spring, boasts displays of orchids and wildflowers.
The Wines
Heathcote wines are defined by their inky depth of colour, and deep, dark, complex fruit. Voluptuous and well balanced, acid and tannin meld together in a way that does not dominate the fruit, but gives the wine great cellaring ability. These characteristics are a product not only of winemaking skills, but of the vineyard itself. It is the terroir of the different vineyards that is responsible. "Terroir" is a French word that means "soil", in an agricultural sense. But in terms of grape growing, it is much more than that. Terroir is the interaction of the soil, sunlight, rainfall distribution and micro climates to create unique conditions not found elsewhere on the planet. It is the amount of sunlight and moisture available to the vine in Heathcote, the ancient soils the vines grow in, the buffeting winds and extremes of weather that determine the way the vine, and hence the wine, develop. The terroirs of Heathcote, whilst they differ, are similar in the high quality of fruit they produce - this is what has made the Heathcote wines so famous and so sought after.
History of Grape Growing and Winemaking in Heathcote Region
"We have struck Paradise" - Henning Rathjen 1858
The history of Heathcote is one similar to so many small towns of its era - once a bustling gold mining and logging town, bringing people of many different cultures and nationalities, with hopes of making a gold fortune. To the north of the town, those immigrants disillusioned with mining struck a new type of gold, with the development of land for grazing, cropping and vines. Henning Rathjen was one of the early German settlers to arrive to the Colbinabbin area, at the northern end of the Mount Camel Range in today’s Heathcote wine region in the 1850s. He planted one of the earliest vineyards in the region, before the arrival of the vine louse, phylloxera, which resulted in the destruction of the vines. The land was then used for agricultural purposes. In the bush to the north-east of Heathcote, Italian immigrants planted more vines, some of which still exist today. More recently, Albino Zuber and Bruno Pangrazio were responsible for plantings, which today contribute to some of the iconic wines that the Heathcote wine region is renowned for - both at home, and internationally.
Today, there are over 25 wineries, and 70 vineyards in the Heathcote region, including descendents of those early settlers, once again growing grapes on the range overlooking Colbinabbin.
Boundaries of the Heathcote Region / Variations in Microclimate
The Geographical Indication Committee recently declared the boundaries of the Heathcote wine region. They are are extensive and created much debate during their determination. The declaration now clearly defines wines that may be labelled as originating from Heathcote. Heathcote is located in Central Victoria and extends to the north of the township of Corop, the community of Tooborac to the South, Lake Eppalock to the West and Graytown to the East. Within the region there are differing terroirs and microclimates. No one claims the district to be homogenous - its variation of terroir that gives the wines of the region their richness and diversity.
The size of the region, by implication, results in variations in climate, geology and topography. The main variations are apparent as one travels from Tooborac towards Rochester. The north is drier than the south and typically receives an average of 5-10mm less rain per month during the vines-growing season (October to April). The region’s southern vineyards experience cooler temperatures during the growing season. These can vary between 1.8 and 1.4 degrees Celsius lower, resulting in an extended growing season. This variation in temperature during the grape ripening period results in a spread of picking dates and subsequently the development of a range of different flavour profiles.
Heathcote Region Geology
The geology of the Heathcote region varies considerably from south to north and east to west, adding to the complexity of terroir in the region and the continued debate as to in which soils the best wines will ultimately be grown. From a viticultural growing perspective, it would appear that the soils close to the township of Heathcote are shallower and are generally less productive than the deeper soils found to the north. The less productive soils result in vines naturally producing lower yields. In contrast, high quality low yields are achieved in richer or deeper soils through good viticultural practice. There is some confusion in the belief that low yields by definition produce better wines - that observation is qualified by the necessity of vines being in balance. Too much vigour will reduce fruit quality, too little vigour will do the same. The red Pre-Cambrian soils of the Mount Camel Range, being some of the oldest soils in Australia, are also producing very high quality wines. Grape growers skilfully employ a variety of techniques in the vineyard to ensure that the vines are balanced and able to produce fruit with a depth of colour and flavour.
The Geological Processes
The first process, which began the moment the surf receded over the horizon, was erosion. Most of those seven kilometres of soft sediments began to wash down drainage lines and blow on the wind into the Murray basin, so forming the flat country to the north and west. As the mud hardened, various forces such as gravity, tectonic plate movements and volcanic pressures acted on it to tilt and fold the flat sheets into a tangled complex form. The results of these forces can be seen in road cuts along the Mclvor and Northern Highway and on the Heathcote-Nagambie road.
The next process was the one that subsequently had a key influence on the history and economy of Heathcote from 1852 until today. This was the welling up of molten rock and the eruption of volcanoes through the sediments. This puffing of magma up into the sedimentary rocks baked or metamorphosed these into harder minerals with changed chemistry, appearance and physical characters. The igneous material intruding the sediments also brought solutions of soluble metal compounds and these solidified and interacted with the mixture of igneous and sedimentary rocks in complex ways to leave deposits of insoluble compounds. The most important of these in economic terms was gold, but ores of silver, copper, antimony and other elements were also laid down, together with numerous minerals with a beautiful appearance such as jasper, chert, selwynite, and corundum.
The main outcrop of igneous Cambrian rock, the Heathcote Greenstone occurs in a strip running from the south end of Heathcote town to the junction of the Mclvor and Northern Highway at the north end of the town. The outcrop then follows the west side of Mount Ida to become really impressive as Mount Camel and Mount Pleasant, bare rolling hills to the west of the Northern Highway towards Toolleen - it is said to be the largest lump of Cambrian rock in Victoria. These Cambrian rocks burst onto the scene through two cracks, the Mclvor fault which runs to the east of the creek and the Heathcote fault which runs from the Argyle forest in the south through Red Hill and Bald Hill to cross the Mclvor creek just north of the Bendigo to Elmore road junction. These faults represent a very long split running throughout Victoria and are even associated with changes in the course of the Murray.
The faults are cracks between two plates of sedimentary rock. Did the faults result from tectonic movements of the plates or was it split open by a volcanic hot spot pushing from below? Ask a geologist! To the north the Mclvor fault becomes renamed as the Mt Ida fault and passes to the west of Mt Ida. The Heathcote fault continues north to the west of Mount Camel until we lose interest in it towards Elmore.
So the Heathcote area can be considered as two slabs of rolling, folded, eroded sedimentary rocks separated by a strip of super complex minerals formed by volcanoes, igneous intrusion and metamorphosed sediments with all sorts of mineral lying around in the rubble. However there is another complication. Press on along the road to Eppalock Bridge 6 km from town and you run into the residues of those ice sheets that grooved the rocks south of Tooborac. The rolling country here is made up of gravel dropped from the toe of an ice sheet or glacier flowing north and west, off the Dividing Range. The rocks and gravel fragments found in this tillite, mostly came from kilometres away to the south. This glacial tillite country starts at the north-west end of the One-eye forest at Derrinal and runs south through the Spring Plains area and far off to the north.
Formation of Gold Deposits
During the erosion/weathering process of the Cambrian intrusion lumps of heavy gold were left behind in the creek beds and this alluvial gold was easily discovered and extracted. When this gold was exhausted, methods of mining deep leads of gravel were worked out. Subsequently gold locked up in quartz outcrops was identified and extracted by crushing. Modern methods have enabled stage four of gold extraction to be started, using machinery to remove overburden and pick out mineralised rock patches from more than 100 metres below the surface. The geology exposed by this process is spectacular and the scars left on the country are horrific.
The sedimentary rocks to the east of the creek include Mt Ida and the Range reserve and are Devonian in period; they are a mixture of sandstones, silts, mudstones, shales and conglomerates. Some of these can be identified by characteristic fossils, others are fossil free. As you drive towards Costerfield you cross sequentially the Mt Ida, Dargile, Wapentake and Costerfield series. Another fault occurs at Costerfield also running north-south. This does not seem to be associated with outcrops of igneous rocks, but the sedimentary rocks became metamorphosed and mineralised along the fault lines and have been (and are being) mined for gold, antimony etc.
To the west of the Heathcote fault the country is also sedimentary, and looks similar to the Costerfield country but the sandstones and mudstones are older, dating from the Ordovician period and known as the Lancefieldian series. These sediments are partially covered by the glacial gravels already mentioned, which stretch from north of Eppalock to south of Spring Plains. The Lancefieldian sediments then continue west to the Campaspe River.
The complex rocks in the fault system running through Heathcote are known to geologists as the Heathcote Greenstone, though to a botanist they mostly seem pink, red, white and brown. They include granodiorite, volcanic ash, acid dykes dating from the Devonian and altered Cambrian sediments such as Schistose Diabase and Agglomerates.
Heathcote’s Fabled Cambrian Earth
Over the past 30 odd years the viticulturalist pioneers of the Heathcote district have extolled the virtues of having their vineyards planted on Cambrian earth - the soils are the result of a very long weathering process, having been formed from Cambrian rocks which are over 500 million years old. These ancient soils, geologists inform us, are around 100 million years old. The Cambrian earth exists as two narrow bands that run parallel to the Mount William fault line. The Cambrian earth starts approx 5km south of the Heathcote township and extends north for approx 35km. The bands of earth are quite narrow, no more than 2km across and are not continuous, although they extend to the northern end of the region.
The Cambrian earth runs either side of the Mt Camel range, following the road from Heathcote to Colbinabbin. Travelling north, it is the land on the left side of the road that is so highly sought after. The slopes are gently, well drained and generally above the frost line.
Many say that it is this Cambrian earth that, like the terra rossa of the Coonawarra, confers the area’s unique ability to produce extraordinary wines - in particular red wines. Much of the land is yet to be planted to vines and local farmers who have this soil profile on their properties have realised its real estate potential and are demanding high prices per hectare compared to farms on grey loams. Australian wine writer Max Allen wrote in The Wine Magazine in April/May 1999:
"Follow the Northern Highway until you reach Elmore, turn east on the Midland Highway towards Corop, then South again on the Rochester Road, back to Heathcote. Within this long, thin upside down triangle (and occasionally spilling out from the sides of it) can be found some of the most exciting grape-growing dirt in Australia. You see, the red wines (shiraz, mostly) made from grapes grown in this deep Cambrian soil have something that sets them apart. They are unusually deep in colour and its depth remains stable for an unusually long time. Flavour, too - inky dark, ripe and black - seems to be present in uncommon volume. For the technically minded, it has something to do with the potassium levels in the soil resulting in low pH fruit, something to do with the warm, reliable, dry climate, and something to do with the great depth of the soil resulting in good root penetration."
Past Vintages
1987
The season delivered good winter rain and generous Spring/Summer/Autumn ripening conditions. It was a perfect vintage producing a moderate sized crop.
1988
A tough year, drought conditions, no winter rains and blistering summer heat. This year, vineyards had to contend with the weather, a small crop and over-ripe fruit due to rapid ripening in the extended heat wave conditions
1989
A wet year producing a large crop.
1990
An excellent year. A very good growing season, good winter rains and generous ripening weather.
1991
Fair winter rain followed by no rain at all during the growing season. The excellent ripening conditions produced a moderate sized crop of excellent quality.
1992
Very low rainfall resulted in a greatly reduced crop - down to less than quarter tonne per acre in some areas.
1997
An excellent vintage.
1998
A very dry winter, followed by a hot summer resulting in a moderate size crop.
1999
A good growing season that failed to finish off as it started at vintage. A moderate crop with less flavour intensity than normal.
2000
Good winter rains, a dry summer and very good ripening conditions delivered an excellent, moderate size crop.
2001
The vintage was saved by 100 mm of rain in January after an extremely dry season. Without this rain, 2001 would have had severely stressed vines and a very small crop.
2002
A surprising year in that crops throughout the Heathcote region were well down - as little as 25 percent in some vineyards. The wines are powerful, full bodied and high in alcohol.
2003
In the grip of a drought, to the extent that some of the dry-land vineyards had pitifully small yields. The vines were pruned for small crops resulting in concentrated powerful wines.
Short History of Heathcote
Mclvor was the name given to the creek in the district by Major Mitchell, after one of his survey staff members - hence the name of the Mclvor Shire originated from this (circa 1836)
Roadside accommodation houses such as Mathosson’s at Knowsley and at Mclvor Inn, station homesteads and shepherd’s huts were the only habitations of the district. Many years before gold had been discovered (which later led to the township settlement of Heathcote), the Mclvor district had been occupied by pastoralists under the laws of the Colony of New South Wales. The site of the township of Heathcote was on the track taken by carters in conveying produce to the stations in the north by woolgrowers from those stations to Melbourne.
The Gold Rush is said to have first started in 1851. The gullies first worked were: Long, Caledonian, Nuggety, Big Possum and Little Possum.
The second rush was started when gold is said to have been found in Golden Gully at the end of 1852 and was kept secret for several months. Then in 1853, gold was struck in the deeper ground in the Mclvor Creek and was still being worked in 1865. In the meantime gold was struck in numerous smaller gullies. viz: Parson Gully, Thunderbolt, Sawpit, German and Sailor’s Gullies and Commissioner’s Flat. The creek leads were extensively worked and proved rich areas.
The gold mining started from about 1855 onwards. Butlers and Alabama were in the reports of 1859 and 1860. They were then at a depth of - 80 metres [240 feet] in depth - so they had been at their workings for a fair while.
The township grew to accommodate over 22 hotels. The hotels started at Mclvor Inn, 6 kilometres [4 miles] south of Heathcote and extended to the Black Swan at Hill’s turnoff at the north end.
There were two flourmills; one which is now a private residence owned by artist Leonard French [next door to the chemist]. Note the tall chimney that stands behind the building, the other mill was opposite the BP service station. There were several vineyards and one bacon factory.
The township was named Heathcote by Lord Heathcote, because of the vast areas of heath growing in the area. As in California’s Gold Rush, Heathcote’s population in ten years dropped from 35,000 to 6,000. It stayed around 6,000 for about twenty years to 1880. Costerfield had about six major mines working and Redcastle had six to twelve mines working up to the turn of the century. A few were worked until about 1910 and most of the miners then worked in Costerfield until it closed down in 1925. Costerfield in its best days employed 700 men on top and under ground.
Some of the populations in little settlements around Heathcote included:
- Balmoral, [later changed to Redcastle] which had a population of 17,000 in its heyday;
- Grey City, which had a population of 60,000, but had a short life, later having its name changed to Graytown; and
- Wild Duck, which had three hotels and a population of 7,000.
Over one hundred and twenty years ago, on a thin lonely bush track running through Axedale and on to Bendigo, at least one famous "robbery under arms" occurred when bushrangers bailed up the Mclvor Gold Escort.
The Shire of Mclvor was proclaimed a District on the 26th June 1863, and later proclaimed a Shire on the 23rd December 1864. This was altered on the 27th May 1892, when the Heathcote Borough was annexed as the Central Riding of the Shire of Mclvor. The area was re-defined on the 16th May 1956, when a portion of the Eastern Riding was annexed to the Goulburn Shire.
This left the Shire of Mclvor with an area of 1,350 square kilometres [521 square miles], containing a population of approximately 1,829 people.
This Shire of Mclvor had four Ridings: The Eastern, South Western, North Western and Central Ridings. Within the Shire there were the hamlets of Costerfield, Knowsley, Mia Mia and Tooborac.
In 1995, the Shire of Mclvor, including Heathcote became part of the City of Greater Bendigo
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