Description
Gary Farr is one of Australia’s Pinot pioneers and knows more about Pinot than anyone! He began at Bannockburn wines in the 80’s and with his son Nick (combined) they have done 20 vintages at Domaine Dujac in Morey-St-Denis in Burgundy. Their vineyard (planted in 1994) is located at Bannockburn (near Geelong) and planted on volcanic soils over limestone. Their winemaking influence is very Burgundian (natural yeast, whole bunch fermentation and long maceration for the reds) to produce wines that reflect their terroir with pure primary fruit characters and savoury depth, structure and longevity. I regard their Pinots and Chardonnay as up there with the best in land. …Their wines are rated in the Top Ten wines in their categories every year in James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion.
This north facing vineyard is planted on the original house block and it is the magic dust (red ironstone soil on limestone) that gives a haunting fragrance to this pinot. Sangreal is now 16 years old and is one of Australia’s top Pinot Noirs as befits its name, Sangreal which means Holy Blood or the Holy Grail. 60% whole bunch fermentation and 60% in new oak has produced the ‘‘hallmark” perfumed bouquet. This is the most seamless and perfumed of the By Farr single vineyard Pinots.
The Sangreal vineyard was planted in 1994, making it their oldest vineyard. It lies on a north-facing slope and the soil composition is bluestone and over limestone, with red ironstone colouring the surface. This is unlike their other vineyards, which are mostly black volcanic soil with heavy amounts of limestone on the surface. The vine rows run north-south, receiving full sun exposure throughout the day, resulting in more perfumed, prettier wines. This is always the first vineyard to be harvested. The clones used in Sangreal are 114 and 115, which they believe have mutated over time to become the ‘Sangreal clone’, now within its own microclimate.
Sangreal is consistently made with 60 to 70 per cent whole bunch and aged in new oak. It is fermented in a five-tonne oak barrel with an open-top fermenter, and cold soaked for four days before a natural fermentation of seven to nine days. Once the cap falls, the tank is pressed. The wine is racked only once after malolactic fermentation, then sulphured and bottled, the entire process taking a total of 18 months. The wine is unfined and unfiltered in order to retain its natural flavour and bouquet. Sangreal is the most seamless and perfumed of the three single-vineyard pinots.
Each year the same descriptive notes come to mind for this wine, seductive, perfumed, seamless balance and moreish. It is a site that wavers very little in more difficult vintages and excels in the great ones. This is the back bone of Wine By Farr. Once again the alluring characters of this site combined with red fruits, whole bunch, acidity and oak have produced a beautifully interwoven expression of site and vintage.
Winemaker Nick Farr had this to say about the 2017 vintage …
2017 Harvest Notes from the Farrs – “A super fine vintage. What a season of rainfall. Throughout the growing season everything was happening in a timely fashion if not a little late, which was fine as we could not keep up with the growth at some stages.
As we moved towards harvest the vineyard was looking amazing after such great rainfall and a very midsummer. Expectations where very high. Harvest started on the 9th of March, which is about a week later than normal. The fruit was quite intense and balanced, because of a longer cooler season and this year we finally finished picking shiraz on the 24th of April.
With extended time and cool ripening conditions we are very happy with the results that are not that dissimilar to the 2016 vintage yet with greater finesse. Good acidity, fine tannins and best of all savoury and elegant fruit flavours. “ This new release looks fabulous and is on song!
Review of the 2016
97 points and included in Top Rated Pinots by James Halliday in his 2019 Australian Wine Companion “The vineyard was planted in ’94 to clones 114 and 115, believed to have mutated into a single ‘Sangreal’ clone. Always made with 50-70% whole bunches, and 60-70% new oak maturation for 18 months.While the power of the wine is typical Farr, this vintage bestows a measure of linearity, a sinuous line to the palate that links and loops around the complex flavours of forest floor/spice and wild strawberry.”
RRP $97 Last bottles
