Ask the fellows at Hanging Rock winery about the age of their enterprise. Pushing back the brim of his battered hat and looking out towards the hills, one man drawls: 'I reckon about six million years, mate.' The distinguished winery in the Macedon Ranges north of Melbourne sits on top of a dormant volcano that spread its lava over the land six million years ago. It's that soil which is partly responsible for the wine, reckoned to be one of the benchmark wine selections of Australia.
Winemaker John Ellis jokes that he was the son of a Methodist teetotaller who fell by the wayside. He studied veterinary science at university but at nights worked as a drinks waiter. Instead of looking after cows and sheep, he went to Australia's premier wine school, Roseworthy College, where he graduated as top student.
He has worked at some of Australia's most renowned wineries: Krondorf, Yalumba, Rosemount Estate in the Hunter Valley and in the cool mountains of Victoria at Mount Helen.
He is an innovator. Like a surfer catching a wave, he was in early on the chardonnay craze; in 1978 he had the largest planting of that grape in Australia and the only commercial merlot. He was also growing sauvignon blanc and became the first to produce a fume blanc. He blazed trails by blending merlot with cabernet sauvignon. Then came experiments with sparkling wine.
All this excitement was focused on the cool areas in the Victorian ranges, far from the usual wine-growing regions.
The label proclaims the sauvignon blanc comes from The Jim Jim. These vines are at 620 metres' elevation, well above the frost line, on the steep slopes of the old volcano. Soil is deep and there is ample underground water coming from a well bored 100 metres into the volcanic rock.
The earth, the chilly climate, ample water and plenty of summer sunshine help explain Hanging Rock's reputation. A taste of the wines does the rest.
