Description
It was 1983 when Ian and June Marks found their vineyard site after a long search for the perfect pocket of land throughout almost every wine region in Victoria. With views of Mt Donna Buang, a backdrop of the Warburton ranges, red soil and a coveted north-easterly aspect, it is the perfect spot for cool climate winemaking. Gembrook Hill led the way as part of the ‘second wave’ of Yarra Valley vignerons, and today is one of the oldest vineyards in the Upper Yarra sub-region.
Gembrook’s wines are regarded as some of the most outstanding examples of their variety in Australia and are crafted with an old-world winemaking mindset. Most vine age now over twenty years. Gembrook Hill was one of the pacesetters in the Yarra Valley with its restrained yet complex style of chardonnay. The sauvignon blanc possesses characteristics found in Sancerre, and is more austere than the typical Australian and New Zealand examples. And the pinot noir has the elegance of old world Burgundy. The most recent addition to the range, the vintage Blanc de Blancs, has been acclaimed as one of the finest of its type, French or otherwise.
After the earliest vintage on record at Gembrook in 2016 due to extreme heat in December and January, spring preceding the 2017 vintage was cool and wet in the Yarra Valley. This delayed budburst and flowering, resulting in a later harvest. However summer brought beautiful even, warm temperatures with cool nights; perfect weather for a long ripening season for our grapes. Happily, Vintage 2017 will produce wines in the tradition of excellent quality expected from Gembrook Hill.
Their 2021 release Pinot takes it up a notch.. this is all class. Exceptional vintage is this Classic Gembrook brick light red. Deep, ripe aromas of raspberry, redcurrant & iron. Exotic spice and savoury herbs. Very precise fruit, earth tones, and subtle oak bring this wine together seamlessly. Very velvety on the palate with sappy flavours of raspberry & cherry fruit.
Reviews 95 points” – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “We’re in business with this 2019 release. The 2019 vintage produced a small crop: there will be no IJM and JKM iterations. Super release. The combination of tension, texture and refreshment is just so perfectly judged. It’s its usual light-but-strong self with red cherry and cranberry into forest berries and twiggy spice, with cedar and a touch of smoky reduction suiting the style perfectly. Tannin manages a kind of dry command without every threatening to intrude. Cool herb notes come into play too. It’s an absolute beauty.“
95 points, Jane Faulkner James Halliday Wine Companion “Yes, this is unequivocally Yarra Valley, but it is far more distinctive of Gembrook Hill. It’s the prettiness, the aromatic allure, the seemingly gentle palate, yet tannins are silky, the acidity just-so, with every element on the same wavelength. Just as Van Morrison sang: ‘Wavelength. You never let me down, ah no.”
RRP $67 Our price $58.99
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