Wine Guild Victoria is an independent, non-profit association of wine consumers who enjoy learning about wine, matching wine with food, the history and culture of wine and winemaking in Victoria, Australia and globally, winemaking and vineyards.
We organise monthly functions including informal wine education and tasting nights, winemaker’s dinners at restaurants, one-day winery tours, weekend winery tours, wine trivia nights and wine bottling.
Coming up!
COVID-19 has not stopped us! On Wednesday August 19 we’ll have a very special guest winemaker from the Montepulciano Appellation in Tuscany, Italy speaking about Sangiovese live from Tuscany via Zoom. Melbourne-born and raised Ashleigh Seymour arrived at the Avignonesi winery in 2010 and has never looked back. Ten years later she is now firmly entrenched as a winemaker and a member of the Board.
WHO WE ARE IN A NUTSHELL
Aim of the Guild
The primary aim of Wine Guild Victoria is to provide opportunities for members to develop a greater knowledge, understanding and appreciation of wine, viticulture, winemaking and the Australian wine industry in a friendly and enjoyable environment. The Guild also aims to promote friendly interaction between members and between members and wine industry professionals.
FEATURED WINERY
ESTABLISHED 2003
Formerly Greenstone of Heathcote, Greenstone Vineyards began in 2003 at Colbinabbin, about a 90 minute drive north of Melbourne. Lying just north of the Great Dividing Range, at an altitude of around 200 metres, the vineyard is positioned on the ridge of old Cambrian soil that runs through the eastern side of the range.
Senior winemaker at Greenstone Vineyards, Han Tao Lau with Wine Guild Victoria Secretary Dianne Lofts at a Winemaker’s Dinner at Mantong Kitchen, May, 2019.(Photo by Don Hyatt)
It is from these soils that the winery derives its name – The Heathcote ‘greenstone’ is a form of copper-infused basalt, and is an integral part of the soil. The climate and generous red soils of the Heathcote vineyard create a unique combination that is ideal for producing outstanding Shiraz and Sangiovese wine.
The ‘success’ of Greenstone’s Heathcote wines led the team to explore opportunities to expand the wine range beyond Shiraz and Sangiovese wines. Upholding the requirement to find the best locations for each varietal, the search led to the Yarra Valley – the home of some of Australia’s finest Pinot Noir, Chardonnay & Cabernet varietals. The originally Yarra Ridge winery,more recently known as Sticks Yarra Valley was acquired in January 2015.
A focus on producing only the finest wines from the finest grapes means that Greenstone has only ever produced very small quantities of wine – we are not interested in making higher volume commercial wines, rather small volume, handcrafted and premium wines.