the region

“On your travels, take note of the number of new varieties on offer in Victoria’s King Valley. They are popping up here, there, and everywhere, waiting for you to discover them.”
James Halliday (The Weekend Australian, 22 Nov 2003)

The region was originally settled in the mid 1800s by Chinese migrants who landed in Robe in South Australia and walked across to gold fields in Rutherglen and Beechworth. In the late 1800s it became home to an influx of Irish settlers which included Australia’s most recognised bushrangers – The Kelly Gang. It was around this time that John Brown began a little winery in Milawa which was to become Brown Brothers.

After the Second World War, Italian migrants made their way into North East Victoria and quickly shifted the King Valley's focus from dairy cattle to tobacco. In the late 1970s, when Brown Brothers was rapidly expanding its operation and tobacco was in decline, contracts were offered to grow grapes and very soon a strong base of vineyards emerged.

The expansion continued and the vineyards grew in size until the King Valley had become one of Victoria’s largest premium grape growing regions. The difficult vintage of 1989 proved to be a key turning point, and by the mid-1990s, major wineries such as Domaine Chandon, Yalumba & Miranda, to name a few, came to recognise the high quality of King Valley grapes, thus encouraging additional vineyard plantings in the region.

It was at this point that several grape growers laid the foundations for their own brands, including Chrismont.

Visit the North East Valleys website to find out more about the wineries, restaurants, farm gates, regional produce and the people who make, grow and sell it in the King Valley and throughout North East Victoria.