Yarra Yering Dry Red No.1 2020

Decanter Platinum Award

Cabernet Sauvignon 60% Merlot 20% Malbec 15% Petit Verdot 5%

Vines: The first plantings at Yarra Yering into block No. 1 were these Cabernet vines and the name was born. The Malbec was also part of the original 1969 plantings. Merlot vines were originally inter-planted with the Cabernet with subsequent plantings made in 1990 on the newly acquired neighbouring land along with the Petit Verdot.

Wine Making: All hand harvested and sent across a sorting table, only the very best berries go into this wine. The Cabernet fruit is individually berry sorted before being crushed to build structure through fermentation. Merlot, Malbec and Petit verdot are whole berry ferments for fragrance and palate flesh. All fermented in half-tonne fermenters and hand plunged twice daily, one third of the Cabernet spending extended time on skins for complexity and to build the savoury edge. Components kept separate in French oak barrels, 40% new until being blended just before bottling after 15 months barrel maturation.

Wine: The cool 2020 season presents as summer berry fruits with some bay leaf adding a background herbal lift. Mixed spice and a whisper of oak; all in balance. Beautiful fruit, a bright acid drive and tannins that form a solid foundation for a long future. Complex but not intimidating, always exciting to watch evolve.