Australian Accolades 2 Pack 2019

Deep crimson colour with a good tint of purple on the meniscus. The bouquet is restrained and shy, brooding and deep, all confirmed by the palate, which is also full-bodied and very deep, concentrated and densely packed, with more earth-bound than fragrant aromatics, some smoky-barrel nuances neatly combining with five-spice and dried thyme touches. A robust, powerful pinot with terrific length and potential. (By Farr RP Cote Vineyard Pinot Noir 2019)

The first plantings at YY into block No 1 were these cabernet and malbec vines, hence the name. Some merlot was interplanted with the cabernet and subsequent plantings in 1990 from a newly acquired neighbouring site. Petit Verdot is only grown on the hillside of the new territories. All hand harvested and sorted, only the very best berries go into this wine. Cabernet berries are sorted individually before being crushed. Merlot, malbec and petit verdot are whole-berry ferments. All fermented in half-tonne fermenters, hand plunged twice daily. Some of the cabernet spends more time on skins. Components are kept separate in French oak 40% new, 15 months all up then blended just before bottling. This is mesmerising. Do take time to bask in its fragrance - all floral and spicy with some aniseed and fresh herbs. Enjoy the poised fruit flavours of blackberries, mulberries, and a hint of blueberries coated in spicy oak and tethered to the body of the wine. Pulsing acidity and beautiful tannin structure shape this and offer a promise of more to come in time. Wow - what a wine. (Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 2019)