Description
Helmut Konecsny, the owner of Rochford Wines, has purchased Toolangi Vineyards and has immediately started ringing in the changes. Of course, it’s early days, but from what we have seen so far, the future for Toolangi now looks very, very bright. Apart from the new packaging, Konecsny and his team seem very serious about rejuvenating and upgrading the work in the vines. This was, after all, one of the few Yarra producers to engage the services of renowned soil scientist Claude Bourguignon on his recent visit to Australia, and the Toolangi vineyard was one of the sites he analysed. In terms of winemaking, Toolangi will now control its own destiny with the talented duo of Kaspar Hermann (stints at Seville Estate, Viticoltori De Concillis in Campania, Coldstream Hills, Punch and 8 years as assistant winemaker at Mount Mary before joining Toolangi) and Kelly Healey (started his wine career in Otago in his homeland of New Zealand then Chandon in the Yarra Valley and Moet & Chandon in India, followed by a spell at Kilchurn in Macedon). Crucial to the Toolangi team is experienced viticulturist, John Evans (previously Chief Viticulturist at Yering Station for 14 years, Vineyard Manager at Yarra Ridge and worked at De Bortoli, as well as various Vineyard Consulting roles including the setup and redevelopment of Toolangi Vineyard in 2001, which he has continued to this day.) Safe to say, John knows the Yarra like the back of his hand and exactly how to get the best from the Toolangi vineyard.
There are now only two tiers of wine—the Toolangi and Paul’s Lane labels.
Kaspar Hermann is coming up on seven years at the helm of Toolangi Vineyard. Under his site-first approach–allowing the place and vintage to dictate the result rather than forcing a particular style—the true character and quality of Toolangi’s vineyard are revealing themselves, with impressive results.
After a string of cool years in the Yarra, 2024 delivered a mild, uneventful spring and sunny and warm conditions at harvest. According to Hermann, it’s a season marked by big flavour and attractive regional charm–the proof is in the pudding; this is as good as we’ve seen this wine. Drawn from 22-year-old vines, the fruit was picked over two days in the third week of March. It was partially destemmed and fermented as whole berries, with a small portion of bunches included (10%). After 14 days, the wine was pressed to oak (10% new) for nine months’ maturation. As has come to be expected from this single-vineyard bottling, it’s vibrant and pure-fruited with textural finesse and plenty of bang for your buck.
Reviews for 2023 .. 91 points, Philip Rich, The Wine Companion “All estate fruit with a small portion of whole bunches (5%) and 10 months in French puncheons and barriques (5% new). A very bright crimson. Leaps out of the glass with its aromas of strawberries, cranberries, blackcurrant pastilles and some spice. Juicy-fruited, quaffable and still attractively priced.”
91 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front “Juicy raspberry and cherry a bit of spice, a little floral too. It’s medium-bodied, bright red fruit flavour, the stony feel of the tannin is maybe unexpected, but altogether pleasing, and while it’s maybe ever so slightly breathy, it does deliver plenty of gently sappy Pinot satisfaction, along with solid length.”
RRP $36 *Our Special Price $29.50 when you buy 6 or more of this wine*
