The King Valley, or King River Valley, is a wine-producing and agricultural region centered on the King River between

Wangaratta Wangaratta ( ) is a city in the northeast of Victoria, Australia, from Melbourne along the Hume Highway. The city had a population of 29,808 per the 2021 Australian Census. The city is located at the confluence, junction of the Ovens River, ...

and the

Alpine National Park The Alpine National Park is a national park located in the Central Highlands and Alpine regions of Victoria, Australia. The national park is located northeast of Melbourne. It is the largest National Park in Victoria, and covers much of the hi ...

in the

North East Victoria North East Victoria is an Australian Geographical Indication for a wine zone in the Australian state of Victoria. It includes five named wine regions: * Alpine Valleys * Beechworth * Glenrowan * King Valley * Rutherglen Geography The North E ...

zone of the Australian state of

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

. There are several small towns within the region, including:

Cheshunt Cheshunt (/ˈtʃɛzənt/ CHEZ-ənt) is a town in the Borough of Broxbourne, Hertfordshire, England, situated within the London commuter belt approximately north of Central London. The town lies on the River Lea and Lee Navigation, bordering th ...

, Whitfield,

King Valley The King Valley, or King River Valley, is a viticulture, wine-producing and agricultural region centered on the King River, Victoria, King River between Wangaratta, Victoria, Wangaratta and the Alpine National Park in the North East Victoria zo ...

, Edi,

Claremont Claremont may refer to: Places Australia *Claremont, Ipswich, a heritage-listed house in Queensland * Claremont, Tasmania, a suburb of Hobart * Claremont, Western Australia, a suburb of Perth * Town of Claremont, Perth * Claremont Airbase, an ...

, Moyhu,

Byrne Byrne is an Irish surname and less commonly a given name. It is derived from the Gaelic ''Ó Broin'' or ''Ó Beirn'', which are also linked to the surname O'Byrne. There are two Irish surnames which have Byrne as their English spelling; the mos ...

, Docker and Oxley. King Valley was recorded as an

Australian Geographical Indication A geographical indication (GI) is a name or sign used on products which corresponds to a specific geographical location or origin (e.g., a town or region). The use of a geographical indication, as an indication of the product's source, is inten ...

protected name on 12 October 2007.

History

The region has been used since the 1880s to grow a variety of crops, including

hops Hops are the flowers (also called seed cones or strobiles) of the hop plant ''Humulus lupulus'', a member of the Cannabaceae family of flowering plants. They are used primarily as a bittering, flavouring, and stability agent in beer, to whic ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, alongside dairy and beef cattle production. A

narrow-gauge railway A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge (distance between the rails) narrower than . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter cur ...

was built between Wangaratta and Whitfield in 1889, and a government tobacco research farm was established in Edi and moved to Whitfield in 1902. Following the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a large number of

Italian Italian(s) may refer to: * Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries ** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom ** Italian language, a Romance languag ...

, Yugoslav and

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

migrants settled in the area and established tobacco farms. Following the decline of the tobacco industry in the mid-80s up to its demise in 2006 from government deregulation, local farmers turned to other crops, such as

chestnut The chestnuts are the deciduous trees and shrubs in the genus ''Castanea'', in the beech family Fagaceae. The name also refers to the edible nuts they produce. They are native to temperate regions of the Northern Hemisphere. Description ...

berries A berry is a small, pulpy, and often edible fruit. Typically, berries are juicy, rounded, brightly colored, sweet, sour or tart, and do not have a stone fruit, stone or pit (fruit), pit although many wikt:pip#Etymology 2, pips or seeds may be p ...

, and grapes for wine production. The King Valley has a history that includes

bushrangers Bushrangers were armed robbers and outlaws who resided in the Australian bush between the 1780s and the early 20th century. The original use of the term dates back to the early years of the British colonisation of Australia, and applied to ...

, Chinese and Italian immigration. Chinese migrants came from the

Victorian Goldfields The Goldfields region of Victoria is a region commonly used but typically defined in both historical geography and tourism geography (in particular heritage tourism). The region is also known as the Victorian Golden Triangle. Description ...

in the mid-19th century and began careers as market gardeners, tobacco growers and merchants. Many roads in the Valley today carry the names of such families, like Mahlooks, Honey, Laffy and Fosangs. Italian migrants who arrived in the 1940s and 1950s also began tobacco farming, but later switched to producing European wine varietals. The valley eventually gained a reputation as a wine region for

sangiovese Sangiovese is a red Italian wine grape variety that derives its name from the Latin , "blood of Jove, Jupiter". Sangiovese Grosso, used for traditionally powerful and slow maturing red wines, is primarily grown in the central regions of Italy ...

nebbiolo Nebbiolo (, ; ) is an Italian red wine grape variety predominantly associated with its native Piedmont region, where it makes the ''Denominazione di Origine Controllata e Garantita'' (DOCG) wines of Barolo, Barbaresco, Gattinara, Ghemme, a ...

and

barbera Barbera is a red Italian wine grape variety that, as of 2000, was the third most-planted red grape variety in Italy (after Sangiovese and Montepulciano). It produces good yields and is known for deep color, full body, low tannins and high levels ...

varieties, with the region containing some of the highest-altitude vineyards in Australia, which are around above sea level on the Whitlands Plateau at the southern end of the region. Milawa is at the northern end with an altitude of . The

Whitfield railway line The Whitfield railway line was a narrow gauge railway located in north-eastern Victoria, Australia, branching from the main North East railway at Wangaratta to the terminus of Whitfield. Overview the Whitfield railway line was the first ...

operated in the King Valley from 1899 to 1953. One of four

narrow gauge lines of the Victorian Railways The former Victorian Railways, the state railway authority in Victoria, Australia, built a number of experimental narrow-gauge lines around the beginning of the 20th century. Although all were closed by the early 1960s, parts of two have b ...

, the 50-kilometre line operated from

(where it connected with the

North East railway line The North East railway line is a railway line in Victoria (Australia), Victoria, Australia. The line runs from Southern Cross railway station on the western edge of the Melbourne Melbourne City Centre, central business district to Albury rail ...

) to Whitfield. Today, this route is a

rail trail A rail trail or railway walk is a shared-use path on a Right of way#Rail right of way, railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed but may also share the rail corr ...

. Whitfield and Moyhu are the larger townships in the King Valley, located along the road from Wangaratta or Mansfield. The two towns serve as major tourism centers within the Valley, and smaller hamlets are dotted throughout the King Valley region.

Sport

Whitfield has a nine-hole sand scrape public golf course, called the King Valley Golf Club situated on the King Valley Road. There was a King Valley Cricket Association that was established in 1948, comprising teams from - Carboor, Cheshunt, Dandongadale, Greta, King Valley, Myrrhee and Whitfield. There was an annual Whitfield Sports Day held annually on Boxing Day from 1905 onwards at the Whitfield Recreation Reserve, which included running, wood chopping and bike riding events. ;King Valley Football Association The King Valley Football Association (KVFA) was formed in 1920 and ran through until 1934. The Whitfield Football Club dominated this competition, playing in 12 grand finals and winning six premierships. The sides that competed in this competition were - Cheshunt, Edi, Greta, King Valley, Moyhu, Moyhu Rovers (Reserves), Myrrhee and Whitfield. In 1935, the remaining clubs in the KVFA merged to form King Valley United Football Club and entered the

Ovens & King Football League The Ovens & King Football Netball League (OKFNL) is an Australian rules football and netball competition based in north-eastern Victoria (state), Victoria around the regional cities of Benalla, Victoria, Benalla and Wangaratta, Victoria, Wanga ...

and have played there ever since. King Valley have won two senior

football premierships in 1970 and 1981 and two A. Grade netball premierships in 2015 and 2016. The club's home ground is at the Whitfield Recreation Reserve. ;KVFA - Premiers / Grand Finals *1928 - Greta played an ineligible player and a second grand final was played.

References

External links

Australian Places - CheshuntKing Valley United Football Netball Club
{{coord, 36, 41, 41, S, 146, 24, 06, E, region:AU-VIC_type:landmark, display=title Wine regions of Victoria (state) Wangaratta