Description
Within only three years of taking the helm at Yarra Yering, winemaker Sarah Crowe has received one of the wine industry’s highest honours, named “Winemaker of the Year” for 2017 by Australia’s most respected wine writer and critic, James Halliday – “She has done a fabulous job with what was her first full vintage. Just an amazing, amazing job.” Sarah is the first woman to receive this award with two Yarra Yering vintage red wines receiving 99 points and four vintage red wines received 98 out of a possible 100 points.
Yarra Yering is one of the oldest and most beautiful vineyards in the Yarra Valley of Victoria, consisting of 28 hectares of vines located at the foot of the Warramate Hills. Dr Bailey Carrodus established the winery in 1969 and is credited as one of the driving forces in reviving winemaking in this region. The 1973 vintage saw the production of the first vintage of Dry Red Wines – No’s 1 & 2, two of this country’s greatest wines, both featuring in Langton’s classification of Australian wines. Yarra Yering quickly gained an international reputation for quality and individuality and for the next 35 years Dr Carrodus made his wines to great critical and commercial success. The unirrigated vines produce elegant, complex and powerful wines. Approachable in their youth they have the ability to develop in the bottle for many years.
Langtons Fine Wines Classification of Australian Wine “Excellent”.
About the Vintage in 2017 … A late start to harvest due to good rainfall and a cool to mild summer without any heat spikes to advance ripeness. Picking lasted 10 weeks, at a leisurely pace, delivering grapes with beautiful flavour development coupled with good acid retention.
Cabernet sauvignon 70%, Merlot 18%, Malbec 8%, Petit verdot 4% The first plantings into block No.1 were these Cabernet vines. The Malbec is also part of the original 1969 plantings. Some Merlot vines are interplanted with the Cabernet, with subsequent plantings made in 1990. Petit Verdot is now only grown on the hillside of the new territories.
All hand harvested and processed across a sorting table, only the best berries go into this wine. The Cabernet fruit is crushed to build structure through fermentation. Merlot, Malbec and Petit Verdot are whole berry ferments for fragrance and palate flesh. All fermented in half-tonne fermenters and hand plunged twice daily, some of the Cabernet spending extended time on skins. Components kept separate in French oak barrels, only 40% of them new, until being blended just before bottling after 15 months barrel maturation.
A stylish Cabernet dominant lifted nose entwined with the complexities of the three other varieties present. Signature blackberry, aniseed, and sarsaparilla with lifted bergamot and bay leaf fragrance. A medium bodied wine style thanks to the Yarra Valley climate where a core of fruit and signature acid vibrancy are hallmarks.
98 Points, James Halliday 2020 Wine Companion “This is the serious side 17. The aromas and flavours are still fresh and vibrant but the palate, in particular, brooks no argument. This is a wine for protracted cellaring to allow the whipcord-tight structure to relax its grip.”
97 points, James Suckling “This is complex and very rich with sliced berries, spices and flowers throughout. Full-bodied. Very soft and fine tannins on the palate. Long and flavorful finish. Extremely balanced and refined.”
96 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front “The approach is stunning. A full orchestra of aromas, blue fruits, cassis, floral things, herbal spice, bayleaf, malt, liquorice. Fantastic. The palate is fresh, invigorating, blue fruits, faint plum, black olive, lithe tannins and a light malt-oak sheath seasoning things. It rides long, fine, light-on, but tense, with exceptional length and a pool of mouth-watering, gently sweet-sour fruit lingering long. It’s an understated, superb, detailed wine of exceptional feel and high drinkability.”
RRP $132 *Special 6 pack buy … only $109.99 when you buy 6 of this wine
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