Top wines to try from the Grampians

Best wines from the Grampians

The Grampians is about three hours out of Melbourne. It's home to the Grampians (Gariwerd) National Park, with Mount William or Duwul its highest peak. There are grand, rugged mountain ranges, along with Indigenous rock art sites. There are hiking trails that span 13 days, you can visit the Silo Art Trail, which is Australia's largest outdoor gallery (it runs across more than 200 kilometres), and we can't forget Halls Gap Zoo (Victoria's largest regional zoo). After all your exploring, we know you'll be ready for a glass of wine.

The Grampians wine region features close to 20 wineries and cellar doors, including Australian icon wineries like Seppelt and Best's Wines. The two have operated since the mid-1800s, which makes the Grampians one of the country's oldest wine regions. The region is celebrated for the shiraz, riesling and sparkling wine it produces.

At the top of the white wine list sits Best's 2023 Riesling, which has been scored 95 points. It will come as no surprise that all the white wines (except one Rhône white from The Story Wines and a sauvignon blanc from Norton Estate) are expressions of riesling, and each has been scored 'exceptional' or 'outstanding' by the Tasting Team. It would be remiss of us not to mention the 2023 Riesling from Clarnette. It was included in our recent Top 100 Wines 2024 as one of 20 white wines under $40 (it's $30 and 95 points).

Now, let's talk shiraz. Of the 10 red wines below, all are shiraz (or include shiraz in the blend). There's a sparkling shiraz from Grampians Estate, and there's no better time of year to be drinking sparkling shiraz, while ATR Wines blends nebbiolo, tannat, durif and shiraz. Mount Langi Ghiran has just celebrated 40 years of Langi Shiraz; The 2021 Langi has been rated 98 points. We also highlight the 2021 Talus. There are 95-point expressions from Miners Ridge, Seppelt and SubRosa, and the Fratin Brothers Vineyard's 2022 Shiraz comes 'highly recommended' and is exceptional value at $25.

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Image credit: Wine Australia.