Every now and then I’m asked what all the fuss is about sangiovese. It’s a question you can’t answer without mentioning Chianti. By Chianti I don’t mean the cheap raffia-covered bottles of ordinary plonk that have, for decades, given Chianti red wines a bad name. Instead I mean the kind of Chianti that’s clean and vivid and savoury and delicious. Chianti that comes in a normal bottle. Chianti that has been well grown, well made and well chosen.

The thing is that Chianti, which comes from the great Tuscan region of Chianti in Italy, is made mostly with the sangiovese grape variety. The joy starts here. Sangiovese doesn’t make dense, thick wines but it does make wines with sweet, cherried flavour matched to earthy, savoury, juicily acidic flourishes. Not too dry and not too sweet. An all-rounder.
The King Valley dominates Australian sangiovese. The oldest sangiovese vines in Australia are in Mudgee in new South Wales (Montrose) and there are mature sangiovese vines in McLaren Vale too. You’ll find examples of sangiovese grown in Heathcote, Beechworth, the Yarra Valley and various other regions too – but none of these outcrops compares with the sangiovese holdings in the King Valley. The King Valley is Australia’s sangiovese heart.

There was a time when I wondered whether this was simply because of the Italian families who’ve settled in the King Valley. This was until I went to Florence a couple of years back, and drove out through Chianti Classico towards Siena. Chianti Classico is a staggeringly beautiful region to drive through – much better in the flesh than it is on the screen.

But while Chianti Classico is a grander and more vast landscape than the King Valley – the two regions are not dissimilar. Indeed north-east Victoria could easily be called Australia’s little Tuscany – even more so now that it’s flush with olive groves and Italian varietal wines.

Pizzini – the benchmark of Australian sangiovese – is always one to look for, but King River Estate, Dal Zotto, Brown Brothers and Chrismont all produce worthy examples. As indeed does the Ringer Reef winery at nearby Porepunkah (in the Alpine Valleys), made with 100 percent pure King Valley sangiovese.

As steady and traditional and brown-cardigan crusty as wine can be, it’s still an industry burning with trends and fashions. Magazines don’t hide wine columns in among the fashion columns for nothing. Thirty years ago there was barely a jot of chardonnay in Australia; now its day has come and gone (though personally I still love my chardie). Which just goes to show that today’s “what-the-hell-is-that” is tomorrow’s “oh-not-another”. Enter, pinot grigio.

Firstly, it’s a white wine, made from a grape of the same name, and from that grape two styles of wine are made: called pinot gris and pinot grigio. It’s confusing – hell, a lot of winemakers are confused – but one’s fat and one’s skinny, like Laurel and Hardy, and both styles have been catching on mighty fast over the past five years.
That’s because pinot gris and pinot grigio can be, when they’re well made, bloody good drinks. Tangy, tasty, bright and white. The trick of course – and here’s that food link again – is that both go beautifully with most kinds of seafood, which matches them perfectly to so much of what Australians now eat. Especially when they’re dining/lunching out.

The difference between pinot grigio and pinot gris?

It’s the same grape, so it mostly comes down to when you pick the grapes. The earlier you pick the grapes, the more likely it is that you’re making a pinot grigio style. And vice versa. Pinot grigio is therefore a leaner, ‘racier’, less flavoursome style to the fatter, richer pinot gris – making pinot grigio was once famously described as ‘painting a picture with white paint. In many ways, that’s the appeal. Grigio is cleansing. It’s crisp. It refreshes your mouth and prepares it for the next mouthful of food.
Which is where the King Valley comes in. As a grape variety, pinot grigio loses its acid at a rapid rate, and so to keep it crisp and racy it needs to be grown in a cool region. It’s not just the Italian heritage of so many of the King Valley’s wine community – the land and the climate are destined to grow this style of wine.

Which is why so many King Valleys wineries are doing so. Brown Brothers, Dal Zotto, Pizzini, Chrismont, and others all making interesting examples.

Arnie Pizzini of Chrismont Wines and La Zona

What do you love most about the King Valley?
Its natural beauty, serenity and the choices of activities the four distinct seasons offer.

What three words would you use to describe the King Valley?
Beauty – the King Valley is without doubt one of the most naturally beautiful parts of Australia.
Diversity – being able to grow and produce a whole range of top class wines that few areas would be capable of. From great sparkling whites to fantastic reds all within the one region.
Cultural- The food and wine passion passed down by migrants to make the area what it is today!

Favourite Italian wine variety? Why?
It is too hard to choose just one as there are so many that I have enjoyed throughout the last few months. So I’d say Pinot Grigio in the whites and Barbera and Nebbiolo in the reds. Why? Because they all have something individual and special to offer at any given time.

What are you drinking at the moment?
I love trying wines from around the globe. At the moment I am enjoying Barbera as it is one of the best food wines going around that I have seen.

Will we be seeing you at the King’s Vault?
Yes I will be there. I feel very privileged to have been asked to partake in the upcoming event.

Otto Dal Zotto of Dal Zotto Wines

What do you love most about the King Valley?
It’s beauty & diversity. We are so blessed in the King Valley. Not only do we have some of the most interesting wines in Australia but we are also have access to some of the most delicious regional produce. It’s truly amazing!

What three words would you use to describe the King Valley?
Family, Tradition, Innovation

Favourite Italian wine variety? Why?
Prosecco. It is so easy to drink. And on a nice spring day, sitting with Elena (my wife) looking over the valley, it’s the perfect wine.

What are you drinking at the moment?
More Prosecco! What can I say? I love this wine.

Will we be seeing you at the King’s Vault?
Yes, and looking forward to it!

Ross Brown of Brown Brothers

What do you love most about the King Valley?  
It’s beautiful, it’s fertile, and grows amazing grapes, but remains one of the country’s best kept secrets.

What three words would you use to describe the King Valley?
Diversity- of soils and climate from the valley floor to 850m altitude.
Culture -the Italian culture is reflected in the wine styles and the food.
Innovation  - many new and emerging wine styles are produced that have given the region national leadership with the Italian varieties.

Favourite Italian wine variety? Why?  
Pinot Grigio because the quality is so good and the region is so very similar to where Pinot Grigio has its traditional home in the Alpine areas of Northern Italy.

What are you drinking at the moment?
A glass of water because I’m working!! but later a glass of Prosecco……..after all it’s Friday.

Sam Miranda of Sam Miranda Wines

What do you love most about the King Valley?
The diversity of the area as a whole; the 4 distinct seasons give you something new to do throughout the year: You can be snow skiing within 90 mins during winter, the new spring growth in the mountains, the Autumn fall and the access to a host of water sports during the summer at a number of lakes in the region. But first and foremost is the array of food and wine all within an hour’s drive; and you can still get your city fix with an easy 3 hour drive to Melbourne!

What three words would you use to describe the King Valley?
Diversity, nature and lifestyle.

Favourite Italian wine variety? Why?      
I don’t have one favourite Italian variety but more a favourite way of enjoying Italian varieties: with great fresh food, family and friends!

What are you drinking at the moment?    
Being spring; most afternoons we have a glass of chilled Sangiovese Rosata, a rosé style.

Will we be seeing you at the King’s Vault?      
Yes, I think it will be a great opportunity to showcase our region as I was Sydney based for 12 years before moving to the King Valley. I love being able to have the best of both worlds; country living but still being connected to the major cities!

Fred Pizzini of Pizzini Wines

What do you love most about the King Valley?
I love the fact that we have 4 very distinct seasons in the King Valley. We are also so lucky to have pristine waterways running through our valley. This is an asset not just for being able to water our vineyards, but for fishing and swimming. I love the tranquillity of the King Valley, it is a beautiful place to live.

What three words would you use to describe the King Valley?
It is reliable – it won’t let you down, you’re more likely to let her down.
It is tranquil – without being behind the times.
It is beautiful – we are so lucky to live in a naturally beautiful area, rolling hills, a flowing river and the mountains of the High Country in the background.

Favourite Italian wine variety? Why?
I would usually say Nebbiolo, but I think Sangiovese is taking its place as it is so flexible and versatile, it is a wine you can start a meal with and finish with one too.

What are you drinking at the moment?
Anything! We love to experiment with different wine styles, varieties and regions. We don’t limit ourselves to one variety from one country, but love to try wines from around the world.

Will we be seeing you at the King’s Vault?
Yes definitely, very much looking forward to it.

Italian varieties? Say what?

Ten years ago I was asked to write a magazine column about the new wave of ‘Italian wines’ being grown in Australia. I threw my hands up in melodramatic horror. I’ve tasted better bathwater! I exclaimed. I once went out with a girl named Barbera but I don’t think people want to drink her (and I’m quite certain she doesn’t want to go anywhere near my lips!).

So I wrote the article immediately (if not sooner!) and raved about the wines. Boom boom. Actually what I did was write about wines that were blends of (insert Italian grape variety name here) and shiraz or chardonnay or cabernet – i.e. wines that still had something familiar. At the time, it felt like the only way I could do it.

How wrong I was. I’ve heard chef Neil Perry say that he built his empire on the back of ‘seafood and sauvignon blanc’. As simple as this phrase is, there’s something beautifully appealing about it too – in a way it sums up the modern Australian way of life. Wine and food sitting naturally beside one another. Freshness to the fore. A glass of wine and the sun shining and the beach, if you’re lucky, somewhere in the background.

The day ‘seafood and sauvignon blanc’ became a recipe for success though was the day that Australia needed Italian varieties. Enter the producers of the King Valley.

Italian varieties? Come on down …

Varieties like sangiovese, prosecco, barbera and pinot grigio have been helping food taste better for centuries. This is why, today, I’m swallowing my words as fast as I’m swallowing the wines. For the most part, these are uncomplicated wines that serve food well, rather than competing with it.

In the hands of Pizzini, Chrismont, Dal Zotto, Brown Brothers, Politini, King River Estate and others these Italian variety wines are not just savoury (or rather, for the most part, non-sweet) they’re also refreshing.

Wines, in short, that taste best when you’re hungry – and the food has just arrived at the table.

No wonder I now like these wines made with Italian varieties so much! I’m salivating just at the thought.

Why the King Valley?

You wouldn’t expect someone to be good at football if they didn’t love watching the game. Or someone to be a good film-maker if they didn’t love watching films. The same applies with wine. The best wines are almost always made by people who’ve had a long term love of the wine style they’re trying to make.

They’re not making it because it’s trendy. Or because there’s a gap in the market. Or because they think there’s money in it. They’re making these styles of wine because these styles of wine are what they’ve always loved to drink.

The King Valley’s climate is important. It’s crucial. The soils and the slopes and the sun and the rain. But the really great advantage the culture of the King Valley has – at a time when our dinner tables are ripe for Italian varietal wines – is a bunch of people who’d be drinking these types of wines, whether they grew them or not.

Which is another way of saying: there’s an authenticity here. Italian immigrants turned tobacco farmers. Tobacco farmers turned makers of Italian varietal wines. It’s a world in good order.

Prosecco perspectives

Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery but political threat is probably the ultimate. When the Italian wine industry learned recently that the King Valley in Australia was making some crackingly good prosecco wines it tried to have them banned.

Strike one for the King Valley.

The problem – for the Italian wine industry at least – is that prosecco, unlike champagne, is not the name of a region. Prosecco is the name of a beautiful grape variety. To call a wine ‘champagne’ it has to have been grown in the Champagne region of France itself – which is why Australian sparkling wines can’t be called champagne any more.

Prosecco – the grape – is different. A number of the wine farmers in the King Valley in Victoria have prosecco grapes growing out there in their lush green fields and when they bring these grapes in and squeeze them, all this crisp, cool, frisky juice spills out. The winemakers take this juice and over a period of months get some fizz into it and voila! – happy days for wine drinkers.

Pure prosecco

They’ve only been making these prosecco wines in the King Valley for a few years, but you don’t have to be a ‘rocket surgeon’ (an oldie but a goodie) to figure out that they’re onto a winner. Big time. Just about everyone loves a bottle of fizz but prosecco puts aside all the yeasty, peachy punch of champagne and instead delivers crisp, apple-like flavours … with bubbles. Personally I find that there’s often a (slightly) watery quality to a lot of prosecco. What it does is ramp the sense of ‘purity’ up higher.

Pure, clean, fizzy wines that taste of slightly sophisticated apples – grown in the shadows of the blue-green Victorian Alps – no wonder people love drinking them!

And no wonder the Italian wine industry is worried. Italy makes a lot of terrific prosecco but it makes a lot of ordinary wines with the name prosecco on them too, and the King Valley versions of Dal Zotto, Chrismont and Brown Brothers have already put a lot of Italian prosecco deep into the shade. Sam Miranda picked prosecco grapes as part of their 2009 harvest too – the wine will be released soon – so there’s more to come!

Planting prosecco

Not that there’s ever likely to be a lot of high quality Australian prosecco made. Prosecco is a grape that loves cool, mountainous areas – as of course do apples, funnily enough – and there are only so many suitable land areas available. A lot of new ‘trends’ in Australian wine start in the wrong area, and are then honed towards the best places. Australian prosecco is lucky – it’s not only being made by a range of folks with Italian backgrounds – who understand what good prosecco is – but it’s been planted in exactly the right place straight up.

Drink it with? It’s fizz – so on it’s own, of course. Especially before a meal or to get the festivities started. But with any food that goes well with apple-like flavours. Chicken, pork and duck are the obvious meats that come to mind.

And remember, it’s like champagne … except more refreshing (though I was drinking a glass of prosecco as I wrote this, so I might be a tad biased right now).

How glorious is my valley

The King Valley is green. It’s Alpine country and valley country. You drive into it and see vines and old tobacco sheds, olive groves and mountains. The hillsides are steep. The forests dark and vast. To get there you drive through fields of pale hay and dry grass and then this oasis appears. Where things grow. An oasis of good folk, good coffee, good wine and good food. In days gone by they grew tobacco in this valley and its bright green-yellow leaves were known for their quality. Important point, that. Even the tobacco was high quality. The King Valley’s wines and food are now known for their quality too.

The King Valley’s got substance. Some reckon it’s like Italy in the Australian Alps – because it is – though given the quality of the sangiovese, nebbiolo and prosecco now coming from the valley, I’ve started saying that Italy is like the King Valley. As a witticism. Funny, because there’s truth in it.

The King Valley is in the north-eastern hills of the Victorian High Country. The villages of Milawa and Beechworth are nearby. Italian immigrants came to the area in the 1940s and 50s. They looked at where you could grow things, and saw land at 150 metres above sea level at the north end of the valley, near Wangaratta, all the way up to the snowline and beyond, in the south. You could grow all kinds of goodies here. The importance and value of diversity. High on the hills or low, depending on the warmth or rain you required. Mountains, streams and clean air. This is a place.

A bunch of Italian immigrants, in a green, steep, snow-in-winter region. This isn’t like southern Italy. This is Tuscany up to northern Italy. It’s a quirk of fate and a beautiful one: a bunch of Italians landed in an Australian landscape that was like the best parts of Italy.

Popping Up

And they’re gonna bring the King Valley to Sydney. For seven nights in November. Lock, stock and barrels – full of wine.

Well, almost. It’s called a ‘pop up bar’. Devoted to the King Valley. I had to ask too. A pop up bar ‘pops up’ out of nowhere and then, at the end of the event …pops down again. Tourism Victoria is building one in Sydney – they’re going to call it King’s Vault – and when you visit it and taste from it and eat from it you’ll find that the King Valley is a lot more than just some place that looks cute in a magazine spread.

The King’s Vault is going to be awesome. They aren’t skimping – the King Valley folks know they’ve got something to be proud of, and they’re putting a confident step forward. Tastings and private events, lots of the King Valley’s wines and regional food – inspired by the region’s finest chefs. Worth getting excited over. Sample the wine. With the food. All from this beautiful region.

King Valley winemakers including Fred and Joel Pizzini (Pizzini Wines), Arnie Pizzini (Chrismont), Sam Miranda (Sam Miranda King Valley), some of the Brown Brothers clan and Otto and Michael Dal Zotto (Dal Zotto Estate) will all be there to share their stories from the vineyards and beyond.

The location of the King’s Vault will be revealed by SMS on Wednesday 18 November.  To get your name on the door list, register on this site. Don’t forget. This is a rare opportunity to taste some amazing wines, and hear some great wine making stories from the mouths of the winemakers themselves. If you love good Australian wine, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. Tell you what … I’m definitely going.