By Farr New Releases

 The whites of the new releases are from 2023, the reds from the 2022 vintage. Both vintages were cool in Geelong, in particular 2023.

I start with the 2023 By Farr Viognier. Viognier can be difficult, often a bit flabby, and tasting of fruit salad. This wine avoids it, helped by the cool vintage. It is quite tight, tasting of citrus, ginger, and apricot. So there is good complexity, and firms acidity brings it home in style (94 points).

The 2023 By Farr Chardonnay is interesting. It is certainly different from most in this country. While it is a young wine, it features ripe stone fruits, even some honey, and an overall savoury mouthfeel. It is quite a rich wine. I recommend to drink it young (93 points).

The most highly regarded By Farr wines are certainly the Pinot Noirs. The 2022 By Farr ‘Farrside’ Pinot Noir shows very lifted and pretty aromas. On the palate, strawberry, mushroom, and earthy flavours dominate. This is a very light wine, due to the vintage. The 60% whole bunch brings some body. The wine is smooth with a soft finish. It is quite different from the typical powerhouse performance of this wine (92 points).

The 2022 By Farr 'Sangreal' Pinot Noir is always the more savoury wine. Vines are grown on volcanic soil. In this year, it is quite fruity. There is the expected savoury undergrowth, but it is nowhere near as powerful as in most years. The firmer tannins and resulting structure gives it the lead over the 'Farrside' (93 points).

The real surprise is the 2022 By Farr Shiraz. This wine has never been on my radar. But in this year, where the Pinots do not hit their usual heights, the Shiraz shines. The wine is quite light, but in beautiful balance. Red berry fruit, a bit of spice, and some creaminess deliver a beautiful tender mouthfeel. This is cool climate Victorian Shiraz, but without the strong spice component of the typical Victorian profile. Soft tannins finish this graceful wine (94 points).

Overall, an unexpected experience. The Pinots were outshone by the bookends, the Viognier and the Shiraz. This is what vintage variation can do.

Two Leading Australian Pinot Noirs

 It is interesting to compare these two leading Australian Pinot Noirs I drank this week, even though they are of different age. They are the two brands with international Pinot Noir reputation.

Firstly, the 2020 Bass Phillip Estate Pinot Noir. Since the ownership change, the label is a little different; old vines is added. Is the wine different? This Pinot Noir is full-bodied, with flamboyant red and black cherry flavours. The wine is quite fruity, delivering a big mouthfeel, but there are also earthy notes, and smoky and salty flavours. This is quite Burgundian in a Vosne-Romanée style. The silky tannins have appeal, and the aromatic and expanding finish is excellent. The wine is 

perhaps a bit fruity, but it has other attractive elements. It certainly tastes like a Bass Phillip of old.

Score: 94/++

The 2017 By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir is also big fruited, with dark cherry and black fruited jam flavours. It is also quite savoury. This wine certainly packs a punch, maybe a bit too much, but the fine grained tannins compensate. The wine shows an attractive salinity and a long finish. It is ultimately well composed, and would appeal to Shiraz drinkers.

Score: 94/++

In terms of international recognition, these two wines would certainly come across as Australian wines, bigger fruited than Burgundy. The expanding finish is a hallmark of Bass Phillip, and only the best Burgundies show this well. There are aspects which could improve before I would call these world- class, but they are excellent examples of how far Australian Pinot Noir has come.

Bannockburn Tasting

 Bannockburn from the Geelong region is a high quality producer famous for being the first winery to employ high density planting in the 1980s, and also for its legendary winemaker Gary Farr who during this time fashioned the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir along Burgundy principles (he worked at Domaine Dujac, where he completed 12 vintages).

The Serré vineyard

This tasting was focussed on the 2022 vintage, which was wet and cold. Unfortunately, it showed. The three Chardonnays lack fruit concentration and character. 

The Pinot Noirs fared a little better, but the light colour and lack of tannins are proof of the difficulties. The flagship, the 2022 Bannockburn Serré Pinot Noir is made from vines planted in 1984, based on the MV6 clone. The vineyard is planted to 8000 to 9000 vines per hectare. This is dense planting (see image), but not as dense as some Burgundy vineyards and some recent plantings in Australia. The fruit in this year tastes of strawberry and red cherry. There is some silkiness in the wine. Overall, it is quite soft (92/++ points).

The other single vineyard wine is the 2022 De La Terre. This vineyard was planted in the 2000s and is based on the 777 clone. Having younger fruit was actually advantageous in this year. The wine is a bit darker, with bigger red cherry fruit, and more crunchy (93/++ points).

The other Bannockburn story, less often told, is Shiraz. The wines are meant to be similar to Rhône style Shiraz. The first Shiraz tasted was the 2012 Shiraz. This wine is quite developed, with the blackberry fruit almost gone. Licorice and earthy flavours have taken over. This wine is elegant, but past its peak (91/0 points). 

The 2013 De La Roche Shiraz, a single vineyard wine, is very dark and a bit more lively. Mushroom flavours and some spice feature. I found the mouthfeel a bit sticky, but fine tannins balance this out (92/+ points).

Then came two big surprises. The 2003 Shiraz, from a warm vintage. This is a big wine, sunshine in the glass. There is an orange tint, but the wine is still lively. It is concentrated, but elegant and very balanced. I loved this wine, and I believe it is still available for purchase (95/+++).

But the star was the 1995 Serré. This was simply stunning. Orange in colour, this is still a lively wine at 28 years. Astonishing! It is very elegant and complex, with silky tannins and a long finish (97/+++). 

So what is the clincher here? Gary Farr left in 2004. He clearly made the 1995 Serré, and he would have had a hand in the 2003 Shiraz. Yes, 2022 was a difficult vintage, but is Bannockburn as good as it was under Gary Farr?

By Farr Côte Vineyard Pinot Noir

 Many of you will be familiar with the Farrside or Sangreal Pinot Noirs of By Farr. These are quite distinctive from each other, with Farrside being very savoury and structure focussed, whereas Sangreal emphasizes dark fruit flavours. Over the last decade, By Farr has experimented with a high density vineyard, the Côte vineyard. This hillside vineyard faces north, north east and east in three sections. Tasting the 2016 By Farr Côte Vineyard Pinot Noir is my first experience of this wine. 

I was gobsmacked. This is again quite a different Pinot profile. The wine is quite perfumed on the nose. On the palate, red and dark cherry is the dominant fruit flavour, but the main impression is the smooth character of this wine, which caresses the palate with immense charm. It is a great blend between fruit and savoury characteristics. The wine shows great finesse, supported by fine and detailed tannins, which leads to a very long finish. This is a softer wine than the other two mentioned, but do not be fooled; it has great intensity.

Score: 98/+++ 

By Farr New Releases

 The By Farr labels seem to say 'Don't look at the label, try the wine', so we will not look at it.

The 2021 By Farr Chardonnay shows cool climate citrus flavours with firm acidity. It is a good wine, but I find nothing very special about it (92/+ points).

This is different when it comes to Pinot Noir. It is fascinating to compare the two major wines, from vineyards next to each other. The 2020 By Farr Farrside is a light red, a little cloudy. The strawberry notes from the bouquet carry forward to the palate. There is forest floor as well. The main feature, though, is the bony and mineral structure of this wine. There is ironstone in the soil, and you can taste it (even though scientists will not approve). The 2020 By Farr Sangreal is remarkably different. The colour is dark, and black cherry flavours dominate. The fruit flavours are quite big in this lush wine. This is an elegant wine with softer tannins. Will the structure hold up to the fruit? This is not obvious now, but it probably will. If you are a Burgundy drinker, the Farrside would be Chevrey-Chambertin and the Sangreal Vosne-Romanée. A blend of the two, with the structure of Farrside, and the fruit of Sangreal would have been ideal for me. (Both wines 95/++)

The Shiraz is an interesting story. The vineyard was planted 90/10 to Shiraz and Viognier. The Farrs than found out that a 10% Viognier contribution makes the wine taste like Viognier. Now the contribution is 4%. The remainder is now bottled as a straight Viognier. The 2020 By Farr Shiraz shows great purity of fruit. It is delicate with excellent blackberry character. It would have been outstanding as a 100% Shiraz. Unfortunately, even the 4% Viognier has significant influence and dulls the wine somewhat. Still, a high quality drink (93/0 points).     

by Farr Farrside Pinot Noir

 This will be a more radical review of this highly acclaimed wine - a perspective you may not find on commercial review sites. The review is for the 2014 by Farr Farrside Pinot Noir.

The colour of this wine is purple with a brown-orange overlay. It looks like this wine is quite developed already.

But what is more significant is the flavour of this wine, whose grapes are grown on a vineyard of dark volcanic soils. On the palate, this is a very savoury wine, not in a forest floor way, but in a uncharacteristically masculine and powerful way for a Pinot Noir. The flavours are of black olive, licorice, smoke and charcoal meat. There are saline notes on the back palate. There is nothing wrong with this profile in principle, but is this what a Pinot Noir should taste like? It is certainly quite extreme and would split consumers of fine Pinot Noir.

Score: 94/0

By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir

Well, there is plenty of time to write blog posts now; and plenty of opportunity to drink wine. Wine purchases in Australia are up over 200%, but please stay sober and enjoy what you drink.

Yesterday, I tried the 2014 By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir. I am hesitant to put the bottle shot up, as it shows nothing I have not already mentioned, but here you are:

As expected, this wine is complex on the palate. Sour cherry and strawberry flavours mix with mushroom and savoury notes, filling the mouth nicely. The acidity is medium, the tannin level surprisingly low. As a result, the wine does not stand up on the back palate as much.

Overall, the wine is high quality, but it could have been exceptional. I suggest to drink this wine now.

Score: 94/+

Farr Rising Saignée

It makes a statement, if somebody uses cork as closure on a bottle of Rosé, even more so if it is an Australian wine. This is meant to be serious. This impression is amplified when a glass is poured.

This 2015 Farr Rising Saignée has an intense orange colour, actually similar to the sunrises observed in eastern Australia during the bushfires. The saignée method means the wine is used as a by-product to red wine production. Some of the juice is removed early, and then fermented separately. It is astonishing to me that such colour intensity is achieved with this method.

The intensity carries through to the palate; rose petal, orange peel, some raspberry and red cherry flavours are fashioned into a precise mouthfeel. This wine has incredible drive and energy and a balanced dry finish. This is by far (no pun intended) the best Rosé I have ever tried, and it is drinking perfectly at five years of age. 

Score: 96/+++

By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir

The 2012 By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir at first blush has everything an excellent Pinot Noir should have; black cherry fruit, quite intense; an overall savoury character with forest floor notes; smooth tannins, and acidity which cuts through on the finish. However, if we were talking clothes, I would describe this wine as a onesie. It comes in one on the palate, lacking layers which can add so much to Pinot Noir. Still, this is a good wine.

Score: 93/+

100 Rosés

Rosés are probably the flavour of the month, but to attend a tasting of 100 odd Rosés is a seriously bewildering affair for a number of reasons. You would never have heard of most producers. Rosé can be based on pretty much any red grape variety (I encountered Black Muscat), although Grenache, Sangiovese and Pinot Noir are most prominent. There are a number of quite different production methods, and maturation can be in tank or oak. All the major wine countries, like France, Spain and Italy produce Rosé, but I will simply highlight three Australian wines which impressed me.

The 2015 Farr Rising Saignée is a 'serious' wine. Based on Pinot Noir, it has quite a dark colour, as the juice had considerable skin contact. Maturation in oak gives this wine a solid tannin structure.

The 2015 Chalmers Rosato from Heathcote is quite a different wine. The family is committed to Italian varieties and different ones go into the Rosato, depending on the vintage. Aglianico, Sagrantino and Negroamaro have been used. The colour of this wine is salmon pink. The wine is bone dry, with chalky notes.

The 2016 Schmölzer & Brown Prêt-a-Rosé from Beechworth has quite a big mouthfeel. This is an up and coming winery and the Rosé is a good example. It is made from Pinot Noir and Sangiovese. The wine is certainly bigger than the Chalmers, with more obvious fruit, but it finishes dry - a happy compromise.

Overall, the fruity wines were in the minority, and the future seems bright. The three wines above should satisfy serious wine drinkers.

34 Pinot Noirs

This annual Pinot Noir tasting in Sydney tends to give a good overview of the state of the nation as far as Pinot Noir is concerned. Unfortunately, this year, a number of the big names were missing. Still, when you have the option to taste 150 wines in a couple of hours, I tend to drift to the better known wines, where I can expect good results. I should do it differently next time and seek out the unknowns who's bottles don't even get opened - sad.

There was one wine which stood head and shoulders above the others. This was the 2014 By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir. This is a very complete wine, with dark fruit, very silky, with soft notes, but a firm finish. This is now the best By Farr wine (96 points).

In the bracket of outstanding wines (93/94 points) were
- 2014 By Farr Sangreal ( quite powerful, with overt cherry flavours, silky tannins)
- 2014 Lerida 'Josephine' (relatively light, strawberry and earth, long finish)
- 2012 Glaetzer-Dixon 'Reveur' (good intensity, mushroom notes, lively)
- 2012 Bannockburn 'Serre' (black cherry, silky, good length)
- 2015 Soumah 'Equilibrio' (strawberry flavours, quite ripe and silky)

In the next bracket (90-92 points) were a number of well known wines. They were good wines, but either had no feature that stood out (like the Curly Flat), or some detracting aspect (like the Paringa Estate). I put in this group the 2013 Curly Flat, 2014 Lerida Estate 'Cullerin', 2013 Stonier Reserve, 2014 Oakridge 864, 2015 Marchand & Burch 'Mt Barrow', 2012 Paringa Estate, 2013 Bannockburn Estate, 2015 Garagiste 'Balnarring',  2012 Savaterre (could have gone in the group above), 2015 Farr Rising, 2013 Brokenwood 'Indigo Vineyard', 2015 Holm Oak (outstanding fresh fruit), 2014 Shaw & Smith.

I rated the following wines a bit below this group (89 points): 2011 Curly Flat, 2013 Yering Station Estate, 2014 Scorpo, 2013 Picardy, 2013 Gembrook Hill, 2013 Moorooduc Estate 'Garden Vineyard', 2013 Yeringberg (disappointing!).

The disappointing wines (85-88 points), given their reputation, were
- 2014 Ashton Hills Reserve (lacking structure)
- 2015 William Downie Gippsland (juice, fault in winemaking or bottle?)
- 2014 Freycinet Estate (fruity)
- 2013 Kooyong Estate 'Haven' (drowning in sulphur)
- 2014 Holyman (unbalanced and thin)
- 2013 Moss Wood (why do they stick with it in Margaret River?)
- 2014 Pooley 'Butchers Hill' (too sweet)

A caveat to these rankings: the tasting was in a crowded room, the glasses were small and there was not much time.

With a couple of exceptions, there were no lolly water Pinot Noirs. These times are thankfully over. Given the line-up, I had expected a few more examples of truly outstanding wines with great personality. Usually, in large tastings like this, I do a taste-off with my three or four favorites. I was not inspired to do that this time. Power in the Pinots has been scaled back, which is a good thing, but now that many winemakers have mastered the art, they seem to go for 'safety first'.    
      

Tasting Top Wines Of 2014, Part 1

Philip Rich, co-owner of the Prince Wine Store, publishes a list of his top 20 wines annually in the Financial Review. They are not necessarily his best wines of the year, but wines that stood out in his tastings. His list is designed to show diversity in wine varieties and styles. He does not attribute a point score. Last night, I participated in a tasting of 11 of these wines. There were two wines each of Riesling, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, showing quite different styles.

2013 Vickery Watervale Riesling: this wine is from the Clare Valley. It is a relatively lean style, showing off floral, citrus and lime characteristics of Riesling. The fruit is pure and the wine has quite good definition, but is a little broad on the mid-palate. Great value for money (92 points).

2013 Keller Riesling - von der Fels: this Riesling shows off a deeper colour. It is a richer wine, fuller bodied, basically dry, with a hint of sweetness. Acidity in this wine keeps it well balanced. Klaus Keller is one of the Riesling stars of Germany, from Rheinhessen (92 points).

2012 Oakridge 864 Funder & Diamond Chardonnay: this wine is one of a number of superb 2012 single vineyard Chardonnays from the Yarra Valley. The fruit is quite restrained, white peach, pear and grapefruit show on the palate. The oak is understated, but cashew flavours are noticeable. The wine has good form, leading to a refined finish (94 points).

2013 Vasse Felix Heytesbury Chardonnay: the second wine had to come from Margaret River, the other major Chardonnay region in Australia. Being a reserve wine, this wine is bigger and richer. Yellow peach and mango flavours dominate in this well textured wine. It is maybe a bit fruit forward (92 points).

2013 Coldstream Hills Deer Farm Pinot Noir: this wine displays very bright colour. The red cherry flavours in this fruit dominated wine are well defined and carry through to the back palate. This wine split the tasters. Some enjoyed the brilliant fruit in this wine, others found it a bit simple. I belonged to the second group, in particular when this wine is compared with the next one. The wine did very well on the show circuit, impressing judges with its pure fruit and good definition (93 points).

2013 Farr Rising Pinot Noir: the colour in this wine the colour of this Pinot is much darker, almost a bit cloudy by comparison. This is a richer and denser  wine, a function of the 30 per cent whole bunches included. The wine is more savoury, with concentrated dark cherry and forest floor flavours. The wine has a good mouthfeel and finishes with firm tannins - very true to the 'Farr' style (94 points).

I would drink happily any of these wines, different as they are.


 

The All-Australian Shiraz

Tonight I am going to report on a unique Australian wine. In 1998, 90% of Bannockburn's Shiraz grapes got wiped out by hail. Close to 40 wineries offered help. The resulting wine included grapes from most corners of Australia: Margaret River (Cape Mentelle), Barossa and Eden Valley (Rockford, Yalumba, St. Halletts, Charlie Melton), McLaren Vale (BRL Hardy, Paxton), Clare Valley (Pikes), Coonawarra (Katnook), Heathcote (Jasper Hill), cool climate Victoria (Dalwhinnie, Mt. Langhi, Taltarni). This is like making a wine in Europe with grapes from Portugal via France and Italy to Greece.

The final wine, the 1998 Bannockburn Shiraz is astonishing. You would never guess that it is made from grapes from all over the country. This is a seamless wine, which ages very gracefully (I was drinking a Magnum). The palate is very complex. Blackberry and plum flavours are matched with mocca and smokey flavours. The wine has more intensity than a cool climate wine, but it is not a 'Big or overripe Barossa'. Heads up to the winemaking here (Gary Farr), who created such a harmonious wine from such diverse sources. The wine has mellowed beautifully. It reminds me of a top Northern Rhone wine. The wine still has great form and has velvety tannins on the back palate. This is not only a great wine, but also an excellent example of the camaraderie of the Australian wine industry. Would this be still possible today?

Score: 97/+++

  

Two Excellent New Pinot Noirs

I recently drank two excellent Pinot Noirs side by side, grown about 200km apart, but they could not have been more different.

The 2012 Oakridge 864 Block 4 Guerin Vineyard Pinot Noir from the Yarra Valley has a bright red colour. The wine is light to medium, very smooth and elegant. The flavours are fragrant and of strawberry fruit. This is a feminine wine with excellent mouthfeel. Only the finish is a bit shorter than desirable for such a high quality wine.

Score: 93/+++

The 2012 Sangreal By Farr Pinot Noir from Geelong is much darker, and tastes of black cherry. As a result, it has a fuller mouthfeel. The finish expands beautifully. Like the wine above, this wine has a 'European' structure, but combined with sun-kissed fruit.

Score: 96/+++

It is not always that the bigger Pinot Noir wins out for me, but in this case it has.

Pinot Noir Australia at Moncur Cellars

Most leading Pinot Noir producers show their new releases at this tasting, which happened a few weeks ago. I reported on this last year as well. Unfortunately, it was very crowded this year and not very enjoyable as a result. But it gives an opportunity to get across most wineries in one evening.

I felt that the styles are converging, which is a bit disappointing. The bigger Pinot Noirs, for example from the Mornington Peninsula, were toned down, the lighter wines were made more intense. Thankfully, the days of fruity Pinot Noirs are truly over in the better wines. And 2011 is really watery and disappointing as a general rule.

I will report in order of my rating:

The 2012 Coldstream Hills Deer Farm shows complex cherry dominated flavours on the palate with a nice mouthfeel and good length (93 points).
The 2010 Marchand & Burch "Mt. Barrow" from Great Southern is dominated by forest floor flavours, very savoury and European in style, with good length (93 points).
The 2010 Mount Mary is a very elegant and subtle style, with a weaker finish than desirable (93 points).
The 2011 Wantirna "Lilly" is quite an achievement for the vintage. The fruit is strawberry, with penetrating intensity, silky tannins and good length (93 points).
The 2008 Paringa Estate "The Paringa" has bigger and darker fruit - quite an intense and tannic wine (93 points)
The 2011 By Farr "Sangreal" is the other quite savoury and European style Pinot Noir. It has good depth for the vintage (93 points). The 2011 By Farr "Farrside" is lighter, softer and more feminine (92 points).

Close behind on 92 points were the 2010 Giaconda (savoury and penetrating, but not big); the 2011 Grosset (strawberry flavours, a bit bland, but good length); 2010 Glaetzer-Dixon "Reveur" (dark, big, complex flavours, balanced); 2010 Stonier Windmill (dark, fruit orientated, but not too big, good structure); 2011 Moorilla "Muse" (complex palate, fruit and mushroom, silky tannins) 2011 MacForbes "Woori Yallock" (light, strawberry flavours, silky tannins, good length); 2010 Bannockburn and Bannockburn Stuart (orange peel, quite smooth, lacks mouthfeel).

The weakest wines on 86 points were 2008 Savaterre (brown colour, quite aged and mellow); 2011 Yabby Lake (light, harsh); 2011 Tarrawarra (light); 2011 Stefano Lubiana Primavera (lolly flavours); 2010 Yarraloch Stephanies Dream (plump, not much depth)

Pinot Noir Australia, part 2

I focussed on premium wines from Victoria. In no particular order:

Farr Rising, 2011: A pretty wine from a challenging vintage. The wine is light bodied, in the strawberry flavour spectrum. Maintains savoury characteristics (90 points)

By Farr 'Sangreal', 2010: A refined wine with raspberry flavours. This wine has depth and a long finish (93)

Ocean Eight, 2010: A wine with good weight, red cherry flavours, the finish is a bit abrupt (91)
Ocean Eight, Aylward, 2009: A more elegant wine with good length (92)

Yarraloch, Stephanies Dream, 2010: Strawberry and red cherry flavours. Structure a bit suspect with a drop of impact on the back palate (90)

Curly Flat, 2007: After the stellar 2006, I was quite critical of this wine on release, given the colour of this unfiltered wine was very cloudy. The clarity in the colour has improved somewhat, but it is still not transparent. A funky wine in the strawberry spectrum, quite long (91)

Savaterre, 2009: Strawberry flavours, but an unappealing texture in this wine. Some length (90)

Narkoojee Reserve, 2009: A stinky wine (86)

Willow Creek Benedictus, 2008: What you would have expected from earlier Mornington Peninsula wines. A little sweet (90)

Giaconda, 2010: Cherry and savoury flavours, silky tannins, but lacks mouthfeel (92)

William Downie, Gippsland, 2011: Light wine, silky aspects, a brave effort for the year (90)
William Downie, Yarra Valley, 2011: A light wine with savoury notes and some definition (90)

Kooyong Massale, 2011: A light wine, bright, strawberry flavours (88)
Kooyong Estate, 2008: More concentrated, of course. Good length in this wine and an expanding finish (93)

Coldstream Hill, Deer Farm, 2010: A smooth wine, a bit shallow and fruity (90)
Coldstream Hill Reserve, 2010: Cherry flavours, good solid structure, a bit fruity, but nice acidity (92)

Stonier Reserve, 2010: Disappointing: light strawberry flavours (91)

Port Phillip Estate, 2010: A smart wine with cherry flavours and savoury characteristics. Dry tannins on the finish (93)
Port Phillip Estate, Morillon, 2009: very minty (90)

Medhurst, 2011: light, quite minty also (88)

Paringa Estate, 2009: black cherry (not as big as in some previous years), good depth and length (93)
Paringa Estate 'The Paringa', 2008: this is the wine previously named Reserve. This cherry flavoured wine is elegant and silky with some length and good structure, but it is edging towards $100/bottle (94)
Overall impressed with the Paringa wines.

Tyrrell's Vat6, 2009: A positive surprise. Focus on structure, not fruit. Silky, burgundian style with good length (94)

Mount Mary, 2010: Most expensive wine of the tasting. Red cherry flavours. An elegant wine, beautiful in the mouth, finishes a bit short (93)

Wantirna, 2010: Disappointing. Pretty, but light (90)

Toolangi, Estate, 2008: Cherry flavours, quite fruity and somewhat broad. Good complexity with savoury elements and some length (91)

Bannockburn, 2009: A real departure from the past. Used to be quite burgundian, whereas this wine tastes of black cherries and is quite intense. It is elegant at the same time with good length (93)
Bannockburn, Stuart, 2010: A reserve wine. More in the strawberry/savoury spectrum. It lacks acidity (92)




 

 

Bannockburn

How is Bannockburn performing since the departure of Gary Farr? Michael Glover, the winemaker since 2005, has continued to push a progessive approach to winemaking. The vineyards are densely planted, organic, non-irrigated and low yielding. In the winery, wild ferments, whole bunches, long maceration times and extended lees contact are applied. I recently tasted the standard 2008 wines.

The 2008 Bannockburn Chardonnay tastes of citrus and some cream (oak, malolactic fermentation) and is a good example of a smart, modern Chardonnay. The acidity will ensure a good life for this wine, but I would have wished for more precision along the palate.

Score: 90/+

The 2008 Bannockburn Pinot Noir is quite savoury, as you would expect, but the 40% whole bunches also give a feminine side to the wine. This wine has great texture and weight, and it is about this rather than the expression of fruit.

Score: 93/++

How are these wines different from by Farr? It is an intriguing question, as the vineyards of the two companies are almost intertwined. Michael Glover thinks his wines are more restrained and built for the long haul, whereas by Farr wines show more upfront fruit. I agree.

By Farr and Farr Rising

When Gary Farr left Bannockburn, he started his own label by Farr with fruit from a vineyard nearby (Geelong area). The vineyard is on limestone soil, which the Farrs regard as crucial for making Burgundian style wines. A bit later, his son Nick started Farr Rising. Today, Gary Farr is retired, but both labels are continued by Nick Farr. The fruit comes from different blocks of the same vineyard, and the winemaking techniques are somewhat different. The main focus is on Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. The wines are made in a European style.

In a tasting of newly released Chardonnay and Pinot Noir I could compare these wines. The result was anything but expected, namely slightly more forward fruit in the Farr Rising wines and very savoury and somewhat funky wines under the by Farr label.

The first wine was the 2009 Farr Rising Chardonnay. This wine comes from the difficult and very hot vintage in Victoria, and Farr picked only half the fruit. The western side of the bunches was not picked because of the shriveled nature of the grapes from the afternoon sun. This wine showed citrus, but also peach and gave quite a creamy mouthfeel despite the acidity which was clearly noticeable. I liked this wine a lot, as it is different from the current trend towards crispy Chardonnay, without being buttery at all. Having said this, the finish was a little plump.

Score: 94/+++

The 2008 By Farr Chardonnay was fresher and more linear, with a nice finish, but it lacked the unique character of the first wine.

Score: 92/+

The 2009 Farr Rising Geelong Pinot Noir was savoury as expected, with earthy and smoky (not from the fires) characteristics. There was tobacco, too. It tasted young, elegant and fresh, but fell off at the finish.

Score: 92/+

The outstanding feature of the 2008 By Farr Farrside Pinot Noir was the beautiful vibrancy of the fruit. Brilliant strawberry and raspberry flavours flow through the palate, with a bigger mouthfeel than the previous wine, and a good length, dry finish. This is quite exceptional.

Score: 95/++

Overall, these wines are highly individualistic. They are all attractive and I recommend you should try them. If 'length of finish' is important to you, you should go for the by Farr wines.

Farr Rising Chardonnay

I tried the Farr Rising range shortly after Nick Farr established it and moved out on his own. I thought it was alright, but not the real McCoy. I now accidentally tried the 2008 Farr Rising Chardonnay and must say I have been most impressed.

The colour is a vibrant bright sunshine gold. The dominating flavour is white peach or nectarine, there is some minerality, and the new oak is quite apparent as well. This wine is not about the fruit, however. It has a wonderful seemless texture, with oak, fruit and acidity beautifully balanced. The finish is very smooth.

This is one of these wines which will probably age gracefully, but I am not sure it will improve with age. It drinks so beautifully now, there is no reason to keep it. Aging would have more downside than upside.

Score: 95/+++

Lethbridge Chardonnay

If you ask me to name five young wineries which will make their mark on Australian wine in the next five years, I would nominate Lethbridge amongst them. They have a strong focus on terroir and minimal handling.

Unfortunately, the 2006 Lethbridge Chardonnay does not quite live up to this expectation. The wine is surprisingly developed for its age. Its strong citrus flavours are getting a honeyed coating. However, the wine is not creamy. It is fairly linear (in a good way). The wine's acidity seems a bit high, and in the end, this Chardonnay does not have much charm.

There are opportunities to improve this style, and once this has happened, it will be quite attractive.

Score: 89/0

In an earlier post, I commented on some of their more recent wines, which show good improvement.