Description
Bindi’, 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne in the Macedon Ranges, is the family property of the Dhillon family. Originally purchased in the 1950s as part of the larger grazing farm ‘Bundaleer’, ‘Bindi’ is a 170 hectare farm of which 7 hectares are planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Fifteen hectares are dedicated to managed plantation eucalypts for high grade furniture timber whilst the remainder of the land is maintained as remnant bush land and important indigenous grasslands.
The Bindi vineyard is the fundamental focus of our endeavors. Our vineyard and winemaking philosophy is to seek balance and purity in the expression of our various individual vineyard sites and this philosophy is applied to farming and conservation at ‘Bindi’; the preservation of the natural harmony.
Campbell Mattinson on Bindi “The Bindi farm spans 170ha but only 7ha is planted to vines. This simple fact is an insight into the care and respect the Dhillon family has for its land, its heritage and its future. There are only 2 varieties planted (pinot noir and chardonnay) on the home vineyard, with both long-established for their stellar quality. Bindi is without question among a select few at the top echelon of Australian wine and essentially has been ever since its 1988 plantings first hit their straps.”
Michael Dhillon – Halliday’s Winemaker of the Year 2022
About this wine: The Block 5 vineyard is about half of one hectare in size on a sheltered, north facing, and very quartz riddled site. It is a wonderful natural vineyard exposition. The wine is always darker in fruit expression and immediately more spicy and earthy that the Original Vineyard. It is less immediately perfumed and has more tannin and fruit power. The wines from this vineyard require more bottle ageing to develop the same suppleness and delicacy as the Original Vineyard but even in their youth these wines are more profound.
The wine spends 15-17 months in French barrels of which about 35% are new. This wine is never oak driven but can certainly benefit from a higher percentage of new oak without being dominated by sappy, smoky oak elements.
About this wine from the winemaker: “The 2024 Block 5 is fragrant of red fruits with a cool flamboyance and mineral and savoury elements adding complexity. The palate is full and bright, lifted in fruit weight and expansive. The palate has a strength with beautiful tannins driving the excellent length alongside juicy, layered fruit. Eight plus years of improvement will see it at its best and it will continue to be delicious for many years.”
A note on the 2024 vintage at Bindi … “Both 2023 and 2024 were very low cropping seasons … In the warmer 2024 season it meant that the wines have a density and power that pushes through the fruit richness, rather than just being more fruity.”
98 points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion “Small yields in ’24, which is heartbreaking, and yet the top wines, including this, are quite spectacular. All the aromas and flavours of the site are on display with some amplification – blood orange and Campari, warm earth and autumn leaves, red/black cherries and pips. There’s a light taste of stems and beetroot, plus exotic spices. The palate fleshes out to medium bodied, with supple if plentiful tannins layered with pops of sweetness and a tang to the acidity. Beautifully defined. You’d be gleeful to drink this today, but Block 5 is so much better with time.”
96 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front “A good deal of concentration here but so too the finesse. Dark berry fruits, a touch of campfire and cedar, cinnamon spice, dreid rose petal, choc-mint and tart cherry. Flamboyance here, but so too control and great presence. The finish a trill of lively, silky and yet firming, crushed limestone tannin. Magnificent wine. A wine that asserts its quality through scintillating presence.”
RRP $202 Our Special Price $184.99 – EXTREMELY LIMITED
