June 2016 Winter Release – Grower Vineyard Wines

Our latest release is from our Grower Vineyard Wines, and includes the 2015 Coldstream, Yarra Junction and Hoddles Creek Pinot Noirs, the 2013 Gruyere ‘Hugh’ Cabernet Blend, the 2014 Gruyere Syrah, and the 2015 Healesville Syrah. Here’s some background on these wines….

Our first vintage in 2005 kicked off with two single vineyard pinots. One site in Coldstream and the other Woori Yallock which have remained two constants for us since that first vintage.

On the eve of our 2015 Grower Release, I am happy to reflect on the 10 vintages of Coldstream we have bottled (no bottling occurred in 2009 after the fires). Since 2005, we have retained our ambition to put together the jigsaw that is Yarra valley in terms of influences and sub-regions. We have increased our commitments to vineyards in the cooler upper Yarra. We have gone from purely buying fruit to leasing and growing as well.

There has been some confusion over the distinction between our ‘Grower Vineyards’ and our ‘Estate Vineyards’

Grower Vineyards are the focus of this release. These vineyards are not run by us in a day to day sense, however we are heavily involved in decision making and most arrangements are per hectare giving us scope to do additional thinning of canopy or fruit where necessary.

All wines in this release are made with minimal winemaking influence (we hope). No new oak, minimal to no acidification and no other additions other than some sulphur. Some would say we are getting lazy but the motivation is to remove as much winemaking artefact and present the clearest lens of each site.

2015 Season

The 2015 growing season will be one to remember for a long time for all the right reasons. With consistent rain through winter and spring, we entered the growing season with a good platform of soil moisture which is always critical. Warm days and moderately cool nights followed into summer which allowed a successful flowering and fruit set. From the fruit being picked to now in bottle, these wines have shown wonderful energy, precision and structure.

2015 Coldstream Pinot Noir

Coldstream is now our only remaining valley floor vineyard. Compact mudstone clay loam soils result in a fine compact mid palate and bright red fruits. Since 2005, we have come to recognise the fine dense mid palate and evolving dark spice with an appealing ironstone influence as hallmark Coldstream. Delicious now but will grow with time. Buy Online

 

2015 Yarra Junction Pinot Noir

Without doubt this is the best Junction we have bottled to date. A combination of vine age and better practice has resulted in a wine we recognise from the depth of structure as a result of the higher clay content of the soils. However, the harmony of the ’15 vintage is unusual for such a young wine from this site. A wine we are very excited to see in bottle. Buy Online

 

2015 Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir

The first release from this vineyard located on the border of Woori and Hoddles Creek on our preferred Siltstone based soils for Pinot Noir. 20 Year old vineyards, clone MV6, 10% whole bunch and old wood. This wine was shy and closed from fruit to bottle. We gave this fruit space to open up during fermentation and maturation. Pretty and structured, we really look forward to watching how this site evolves. Buy Online

 

2013 Gruyere ‘Hugh’ Cabernet

Some of you already know this vineyard no longer exists (apart from 3 rows of merlot) due to Phylloxera being identified at this site during the 2014 growing season. This foul little soil bound insect kills own rooted vines. So this will be the second last release of Hugh as we know it from this particular site.

2013 was warm and dry. With the stress from the phylloxera compounded by the season, we dropped a lot of fruit to reduce the load on the vine. The resultant wine is classic Yarra Cabernets. Medium bodied, fine and slightly more fruit focused than is normal for our Hugh. Slightly more forward than some other years but will all the hall marks of classic Yarra Cabernets. Drink now-2028. Buy Online

 

2015 Healesville Syrah

This marks the first release of the Healesville Syrah coming from our winery property located between Healesville and Woori Yallock. Planted nearly 25 years ago, we assumed day to day responsibility of this vineyard 5 years ago. It was only during the ’15 growing season we felt the soils and vines were looking good and that we should start having a play with the fruit.

These gravely lean soils result in a wine more savoury and gravely in structure than the Gruyere. Darker spicier fruit, more whole bunch and some high tone perfume offer a very different wine to the Gruyere. Buy Online

 

2014 Gruyere Syrah

The last release of Syrah from our Gruyere property due to Phylloxera (see comments above). The irony being that this is perhaps the best Syrah we have bottled to date. The resulting wine from this gorgeous season is a very fine structured wine with fruit weight without being dense. Dark red fruits and subtle spice with the whole bunch influence barely perceptible at this stage. This wine will take time to evolve like most of our 2014’s. Buy Online

 

Museum Packs

We are incredibly grateful for the support you as mailing list provide to us in both feedback and sales. We are committed to ensuring you receive better access to some older or small volume wines and some really fun events.

We are also aware that it is easy to recommend cellaring these wines but some of you may not have seen any of our wines with age. Key to our philosophy is to pick with freshness which often sees the new release wines look shy and pretty. However these wines now have a track record in terms of growing and evolving gracefully (most of the time) and we are keen to share these wines with you when we can.

3-Pack Coldstream Pinot Noir (2011, 2012, 2013) Buy Online

6-Pack Coldstream (2011, 2012, 2013, 2014) & Yarra Junction Pinot Noir (2013, 2014) Buy Online