In 2023 I had an epic visit to the Yarra Valley, in Victoria, around an hour north-east of Melbourne. It included a tasting session at Yarra Yering – one of the region’s pioneers. Today it was winemaker Sarah Crowe’s turn to visit our shores, and take a select few through the current range from this legendary producer, courtesy of their NZ distributors – Eurovintage, at Gilt Brasserie in Auckland.
Established in 1969 by Dr Bailey Carrodus, with a focus on wines (as Sarah describes) “of exceptional quality with a bit of individual style as well”. At that time there had been a fifty year hiatus in commercial wine production. The period between then and 1975 saw renewed plantings throughout the valley, which is now referred to as ‘modern Yarra Valley wine’ with Yarra Yering’s first commercial vintage in 1973. Yeringberg is credited as having the oldest-surviving vines in the region – see my article about a trip there here > https://winefolio.co.nz/?p=9308.
The first wines made were the Dry Red Wine No.1 which is a Bordeaux-inspired blend and came off Block No.1; and Dry Red Wine No.2 as a Rhône-inspired blend from Block No.2 which had the Shiraz and Marsanne planted. The wines were therefore connected to the blocks in which they were grown. The blends have changed a bit as the vineyards have expanded. Sarah explains “For a long while Dr Carrodus didn’t tell people what were in those blends! The No.1 was the more structured wine and the No.2 the softer more fleshy, fruitier wine”.
Sarah adds that “The 1984 Red Wine No.1 won a medal at the London Wine Competition, and for quite some time they were more an international brand than an Australian brand. We used to export about 80% of our production, and only 20% was domestic. Today those numbers have flipped as the locals cottoned on that they were pretty nice wines. Dr Carrodus was a bit of a visionary. For example, we have some portuguese varieties that were planted in our vineyard in 1990. And today people are starting to think about the suitability of portuguese varieties in Australia”.
His home (he passed away in 2008) is now the Cellar Door, looking over the vineyard. The business was bought by two friends who were both fans of the label, and Sarah describes her instructions as “just to be very respectful of the history and to carry on making the very best wines that we can today.”
There are around 35-ish hectares. The majority of it is Yarra Yering, but in 2001 the Warramate Vineyard was added, which sits just above the main property, up the hill, bordering Coldstream Hills. A property that was part of the Underhill Vineyard was purchased in 2017 have been planted with Cabernet cuttings from the No.1 block, right across the driveway.
Sarah talks about the vineyard work, with “the average yield is around two tonnes per acre, with lots of work by hand. Crop and shoot thinning, tucking wires in – we do a lot of passes through the vineyard. All of this gives us nice concentration of flavour, and natural acidity”.
Some of the biggest changes in the brand, that I see, have come since Sarah’s appointment. Sarah spent 12 years in the Hunter Valley before moving to Yarra – and has now done her twelfth vintage at Yarra Yering. There seems to be meticulous, near-obsession with getting the very best out of what is grown. Things like use of amphora, and investment in a new, softer press and destemmer have helped.
Back to Sarah – “Hand-picking is the first sorting of the grapes that we do. Then everything goes across a sorting table. We can choose if we want whole berries, or bunches, or if we’re going to crush – which we often do with the Cabernet. An evolution in the style has happened based on equipment. Since I’ve got there I’ve really extended this sorting process at the beginning. Also, buying a new destemmer. The old one was used from 1969 to 2012! The wines used to need a lot longer to reconcile their tannins and open up. I think the wines now are a little bit more transparent. You can see the detail in the wine – we’re doing less winemaking”.
It is my first time trying the wines from the Warramate vineyard, and we begin with Warramate Marsanne Roussanne 2021. The nose has pear, citrus, peach and almond meal. A generous wine, with good phenolics giving a slippery mouthfeel and a fleshy texture. Ripe and bigger than the Chardonnays that follow. Acidity gives direction into a dry, lengthy finish.
Yarra Yering is best known for the range of reds, but the whites are really good too. When I was there we tried an excellent Viognier. Today it is the turn of Chardonnay to fill our glasses. Yarra Yering Chardonnay 2023 comes from a cooler year, and has a shyness to the bouquet that takes time to reveal itself. Quite tight and with some seriously punchy acidity. There is apparently around 30% new oak through these but I don’t see it. It is modern Australian, so also no malolactic fermentation.
Yarra Yering Chardonnay 2022 is a near twin to the wine from above. Crystalline, saline acidity to the fore. Generous but not with weight or oak – the fruit does shine through mid-palate. savoury, layered and with some tanning making a mark. Tarragon, lemon peel and lemon curd, with apple and chestnut at the finish.
Yarra Yering Chardonnay 2013 however, is quite different. Toasty – almost creamy in presentation. A granite-like minerality could come from the influence of barrel? This is a blockbuster if compared to the later examples. I get full malo, and the oak is quite evident. Amazing difference, and I quite like it, in a full-throttle way. The finish is dry and has more precision than all the rest of it!
In 2023, a different vintage of the Yarra Yering Underhill Shiraz 2017 was also in my glass (a 2020), and I liked it a lot. The 2017 is another cooler vintage – Sarah describes it as “a very ‘traditional Yarra year’ like they used to make in the 80s”. Mid-weighted and fresh, but with heaps of character. Smoked meat/charcuterie, dried fruit, pepper, plum and bramble all should. The fruit is bright and plush.
The shiraz-dominant blend of Yarra Yering Dry Red #2 2020 is a bright magenta-purple colour in the glass. Very heady with quite a bit of floral in the fragrance. Star anise and black pepper add spice to the plum and cherry flavours in the medium-weighted palate. I’m seeing more tannin here than in the Underhill wine – maybe the Mataro addition is giving that? Deeper in it becomes very plush, with an elegant and silky texture.
The Yarra Yering Dry Red #2 2018 has a drier, less rich edge to the palate. The colour is less intense, and the wine has a calm, seamless flow to it. This is a very well made blend, where everything just seems to fit. No rough angles – quite tight and serious actually.
Yarra Yering Dry Red #2 2013 is a darker colour again, with a bold, intoxicating perfume. As well as spices and vanilla, there is a tomato leaf herbal note and even orange peel as a swoop of negroni-like bitters comes in. Seductive, with a bolder smudge of oak and a slinky textural mouthfeel. That herbal does add some grip in the palate though, which is important.
Warramate Cabernet/Merlot/Malbec 2021 is an inky dark purple colour. It goes from a rose petal and lavender floral lifted nose into a tightly tannic palate. It is however well-balanced and with that heroic tannin (and juicy acidity) it is certainly not leaning on oak for structure.
Probably the most approachable of all the reds – Yarra Yering Agincourt Cabernet/Malbec 2018 has the infamous ‘doughnut’ of Cabernet on the palate filled with the savoury tang of Malbec. Red-fruited in a very fresh and squeaky kind of way. I wonder how it would change if cellared, but it is certainly a bright, lifted style that drinks well today.
Moving on to their most famous blend – Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1 2019 is a shift up in gears. From a warm, dry year, there is a lower level of aromatic profile. Notes of bay leaf, lead pencil and iodine give an indication that we’re into more serious territory – less fruit and more structure. Cabernet dominant, there’s a density to the palate, but with fine, silken acidity that gives an agile ebb and flow. A graceful wine.
Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1 2018 comes from a year that has been described as ‘an even, easy vintage’. Cranberry, redcurrant and blueberry drums across the plate, with a similar wave to the 2019 vintage. The medium-bodied weight defies the idea that your best wine has to be built like a tank. This is shapely and fine-boned, with long, supple tannins.
My glass of Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1 2013 is just starting to show some secondary character with a little funk of sarsparilla, anise and roasted carrot alongside the bramble, cassis and black cherry fruits. Some spicy oak frames the juice, adding depth, with the sleek tannins and integrated acidity in perfect harmony. Very, very fine, with a superb length on the finish.
To round up – it is clear how Yarra Yering have grown to be one of the most important of Australia’s fine wines. I had a great many top-notch wines when I was in Victoria, but there’s no doubt that those of this producer sit at the top table. The label has been named Winery of the Year by both The Real Review and Halliday Wine Companion, and Sarah Crowe as Winemaker of the Year. The wines are well worth consideration for anyone (like us at WineFolio) looking ‘for the best’.
