Description
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 in the Gruyere district. 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.
Within only three years of taking the helm at Yarra Yering, winemaker Sarah Crowe 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.
About the 2019 vintage: A compact year, all fruit ripened relatively quickly and with good yields. The wines are regionally elegant but with a ripe, black fruit spectrum and ample structure. There are no shrinking violets!
The Underhill Shiraz is from a single block of Shiraz planted in 1973; 8 acres at the western extremity of the Yarra Yering vineyard. One of the Yarra Yering wines to give itself up sooner rather than later it will often look wonderful at 5-10 years of age. This vineyard has a proven pedigree and it will continue to evolve for many more years under suitable cellaring conditions should you want to leave it for 10+ years.
Hand harvested, the bunches pass across a sorting table before processing either as whole bunches or whole berries. The first use of a 3500L upright oak Foudre for both fermentation (20% whole bunch) and maturation. The remainder of fermentation in the Yarra Yering 600kg open-fermenters, gently hand plunged twice daily. A component of 100% whole bunch fermentation brings some volume and plushness to the palate. Air bag pressed to release the last fermenting juice from the many whole berries remaining. The wine is then aged for 12 months; 50% in the new 3500L Foudre and 50% to used French oak puncheons (500L).
From the winemaker: “Perfumed cool climate Shiraz; deliciously medium bodied with a lick of aniseed spice. Bright blue plum fruits bring energy to the palate and some black plums a more traditional fruit concentration. As always from this block we see some cured meat and a smoke-char interest driving the back palate. A solid core of fruit, the oak is a faint seasoning that plays second fiddle to the fruit.
96 Points – 2022 Halliday Wine Companion
95 Points – Aaron Brasher, The Real Review
94 Points – Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Real Review
Our Special Price $114.99 – last of this vintage.
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