Beechworth’s key grape varieties
Giaconda. Castagna. Sorrenberg. Beechworth may be Australia’s smallest GI, but it’s home to some of its biggest names. Three hours’ drive northeast of Melbourne, the tiny Victorian region is best known for chardonnay – Giaconda’s 2022 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay was recently named the world’s best white wine – but it also has a reputation for outstanding renditions of shiraz, pinot noir, gamay, sangiovese, roussanne and viognier, among others.
History of Beechworth
Beechworth’s history stretches back to 1852 when gold was first discovered at Spring Creek. As in other gold-mining towns, the wealth generated by the influx of hopeful prospectors resulted in a thriving local wine industry, which peaked in 1891 at around 30 growers and 70 hectares of vineyards. But what goes up must come down, and the following decades of economic decline and the arrival of phylloxera meant that by 1916 there were just two hectares of vineyards left in the region.
Beechworth’s modern revival
In 1978, Di and Pete Smith planted around three-and-a-half hectares of chardonnay and cabernet sauvignon on a site just west of the township. Initially, all the fruit from Smiths Vineyard was sold to others, and while a portion of it is still sold to producers such as A.Rodda and Fighting Gully Road, Smiths Vineyard also produced estate wines under its own name for a short period from 2003.
Despite not planting vines until 1982, four years after the Smiths, it’s Giaconda’s Rick Kinzbrunner who is considered to be the region’s founding father. Formerly a mechanical engineer, Rick spent a decade working in wineries in New Zealand, California and Bordeaux before he returned to Australia to take up a position as assistant winemaker at Brown Brothers in Milawa. In 1980, he bought land in Beechworth, driven by nothing more than instinct and a love for the town. In 1985 he released his first cabernet, and his first chardonnay followed a year later.
Beechworth’s key producers
As well as Giaconda, Pennyweight by Stephen Morris (the great-grandson of Morris of Rutherglen founder George Francis Morris) and his wife Elizabeth, and Barry and Jan Morey's Sorrenberg were the region’s pioneering producers.
Fighting Gully Road, Castagna, Savaterre and Weathercraft, established in the mid-to-late ’90s, led the second generation. Adrian Rodda (whose 2023 Baxendale Vineyard Chardonnay won Best Wine of Show at the 2024 Victorian Wine Show), Vignerons Schmölzer & Brown and Traviarti were among the exciting arrivals from 2010 onwards.
More recently, Granjoux, the passion project of Melbourne restaurateur Peter Bartholomew and commercial lawyer Donna Pelka, has been one to watch since their first vintage in 2021.
Today there are just over 30 wineries and around 134 hectares of vines in Beechworth. Regardless of when they were established, the region’s producers share an innovative approach to grape growing and winemaking.
Why are wines from Beechworth so good?
Beechworth’s reputation for high quality wines belies its small size. Its location in the foothills of the Victorian Alps allow for vineyards to be planted at different altitudes (between 300–1000m) which create diverse microclimates between sites and allow for a huge variety of grapes to be grown. The region’s soils play a large part, too. There are two main types of soil in Beechworth: Ordovician greywacke, sandstone, mudstone, and shales; and Devonian granites and granodiorite. The former is better suited to varieties like nebbiolo and tempranillo, while the granitic soil is the reason Beechworth chardonnay is so well regarded.
Here is a list of 20 wines from Beechworth to try.
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