Ten years ago, in an article about climate change, I predicted that the Yarra Valley, traditionally famous for cool-climate grape varieties such as Pinot Noir, could soon be known for warm-climate varieties such as Grenache.
At that time there was, as far as I was aware, only one vineyard in the Yarra growing Grenache – and it had been planted for sentimental rather than sound viticultural reasons: Yabby Lake winemaker Tom Carson and his partner Nadège Suné had put in a handful of Grenache vines when they established their one-hectare personal vineyard, Serrat, in 2001, as a tribute to Nadège’s...