Fowles Wine: one of the gems of the Strathbogie Ranges

The Strathbogie Ranges is one of Victoria’s least-known regions - but it’s worth a second look.

TWAM 2 April 2016

The Strathbogie Ranges is one of Victoria’s least-known regions, despite the fact that it is easily accessible in a day’s return trip from Melbourne. The cynical might say this is just as well because there isn’t much to see, next to nowhere to stay overnight, and nowhere of any consequence to eat.

To dwell on the empty half of the glass a little, the Strathbogies became the first part of Victoria to be struck by phylloxera in over a century, a viticultural cancer that has since spread to the Yarra Valley and will reach other regions in coming decades. Two of the three largest vineyards in the Strathbogies and the largest winery were sold by mortgagees or receivers; only a handful of small wineries remain dotted across the region, of which only two (Maygars Hill and Fowles) have five stars in my Wine Companion.

Which is a neat bridge into the glass half full. Mount Helen was the first large vineyard, established by Dr Peter Tisdall, producing grapes of high quality, but fell prey to financial problems and phylloxera. Part is now owned by Elgo Estate, part by Fowles Wine.

Another viticultural pioneer was the Plunkett family, which began planting 120ha in three locations in 1980. In 2008 the large Dominion Winery was acquired by Fowles from the receiver and merged with the Plunkett family business. In 2011 the Fowles family (led by Matt Fowles) purchased the Plunketts’ share, and an already successful business took another leap forward. It entered the Hall of Fame of the Victorian Tourism Awards, the cafe providing lunch seven days a week.

Fowles has 145ha of mature vineyards, annual production of 60,000 dozen by a very talented winemaking team headed by Victor Nash, with Lindsay Brown in support, and a brilliant marketing team exemplified by the Ladies Who Shoot Their Lunch label. With such talented staff in place, the only way is up.

2014 Fowles Wine Ladies who Shoot their Lunch Wild Ferment Chardonnay

Night-harvested, fermented and matured in French oak (30% new). The key to its style and quality is its inbuilt acidity, which provides the framework for all the other components to show their wares. 13.5% alc, screwcap. 94 points, drink to 2023, $35

2012 Fowles Wine The Exception Cabernet Malbec

85/15%, the cabernet estate-grown, the malbec from a grower at 600m; the malbec was crushed by foot, three days cold soak, co-fermented with the cabernet, matured for 16 months in new French puncheons. Still very youthful, but shows its class immediately; cabernet sauvignon is the master here, elegantly disdainful of all else be it malbec or oak. 13.7% alc, screwcap. 96 points, drink to 2037, $50

2013 Fowles Wine The Rule Shiraz

Estate-grown, cultured yeast, open-fermented. A complex shiraz barely out of its swaddling clothes; plum, blackberry and warm spices run deep, sweet oak and supple tannins providing company. It’s easy when you know how, but the knowledge is hard-earned. 14.5% alc, screwcap. 95 points, drink to 2038, $50