Sourced from individual blocks within our estate, Reserve wines encompass the very best fruit from the most exceptional vintages. Each block is hand harvested, with each bunch surveyed in the vineyard to determine its Reserve status. Often featuring our original 1972 plantings, these complex wines offer unique expressions of varietal, time and place.
The 2021 growing season will forever be remembered as one of the greats in the Upper Yarra. Mild steady temperatures and average even rainfall resulted in good yields as well as balance and complex flavour development across all varieties. Harvest was able to commence in early March, which is preferable to the hotter daytime temperatures typically observed in February.
Fruit from our original 1972 plantings of Pinot Noir – our highest elevation block – was handpicked early in the morning into small buckets, with bunch selection done in the vineyard. Approximately 70% were de-stemmed into an open fermenter with ~30% whole bunches, then chilled for a four-day cold soak before fermentation. Fermentation was wild with no temperature control. We pumped over daily and malolactic fermentation occurred through this period. The wine was pressed off skins directly to a mix of 300L and 500L French oak barrels (approximately 30% new) and remained on lees for 10 months. The final wine was allowed to clarify naturally in the cellar before a gentle racking and bottling without fining or filtration to maximise delicate varietal notes.
An incredible and near intoxicating nose right from the start – the right glassware helps. Its brilliant colour is taken to new levels in its aromatics, painting swirls of red, purple and black against an impressionist tableau worthy of your undivided attention.
The palate is equally impressive, with acidity in line with sweetness in line with tannin. It’s a true representation of varietal and site, with each sip imbuing a sense of the mineral-rich red volcanic soils we work over.
We have been preserving the old 1972 plantings by grafting vines onto new phylloxera-resistant rootstock and planting on either side of the original block. In this vintage, we included a small percentage to the blend, and we are excited to see its growth in the coming years. Drink 2023 - 2040
97 points, Halliday Wine Companion 2023
“A special wine from the first whiff, there are aromas of red and black fruits, floral notes, spice-rack spices together with complex ferrous notes. Concentrated but pure, structured and balanced. A special wine in the making and one of the very best 2021 Yarra pinots I tasted for this year's Companion. So long. Drink a bottle now but worth putting some away to enjoy; 10–15 years from now.”
Philip Rich, July 2022
