For the first time since 2005 we have a new range to introduce you to, our ‘Villages’ tier (pronounced Vi-laj), which will sit between our Single Vineyard and Yarra tiers. You’ll see a number of chardonnay and pinot wines under the new Villages label.
While we acknowledge ‘Villages’ is not a new concept, it is an unbelievably large undertaking for the Yarra Valley. Thankfully we are more excited than terrified. Reassuringly we believe these 2019 wines are appropriately exceptional for the first release in terms of both quality and personality true to those areas within the Yarra.
As those of you familiar with European labelling, Villages is a term applied across many wine regions whereby distinctions are made within regions. These distinctions are built on many years of experience and lead to separate identifying bottlings across a region that are often more than single vineyard wines. Compared to some other regions around the world, the Yarra is still in its early stages. However, over the last five decades there is no doubt we have gained invaluable experience allowing the first steps towards a far more insightful analysis of the wonderfully different subregions that make up the whole Yarra Valley.
For some time, the simple breakdown of Yarra regions has been the Upper and Lower Yarra loosely separated by the Warburton Hwy. However, for some time, our eye (and tastebuds) have been drawn to different soils, valleys, mountains and the resulting variation in winds, rain, solar radiation and ultimately the different expressions of plant and fruit.
Taking parcels from both the vineyards we farm and those we work with, the Villages tier adds another layer of expression beyond the Yarra tier, and reflects the various sub-regional influences. As we see some of our newer sites responding well to our farming practices and beginning to show maturity, and our fruit quality in our own vineyards dramatically increasing, the timing of this new Villages tier feels right on all levels.
Crucially, the introduction of the Villages wines has allowed us finally to push back the release of our far more restrained and closed Single Vineyard wines that will now be released in the following year. The 2019 Single Vineyard wines will now be carefully cellared until their release in May 2021.
For subregional info and our technical sheets / tasting notes, click here
If you’d like further information, please don’t hesitate to get in touch – mac@macforbes.com