Victoria's first vineyard is a landmark in the Yarra Valley and an icon of the Australian wine industry. Loads of lovely Pinot character on the nose with ripe cherry gamey notes and hints of "forest floor". Silky in texture the lingering flavour is enhanced by a touch of oak.

From Kate Goodman's team, who already bring us the wonderful Punt Rd range, this second label perpetuates their well deserved reputation. This is a soft, fruit driven Pinot from sites around the Yarra Valley. It offers great complexity at this price.

The Pinot noir vines used for this wine by Yeringberg were planted in 1969, 1970 & 1974. There are two clones the younger vines are MV6 and the older vines are known as the Rutherglen clone. All the fruit is crushed, de-stemmed and inoculated. Fermentation is generally rapid, with temperatures reaching 32°C. Ferments are plunged by hand every 8 hours. It is pressed as soon as the ferment is dry. The wine is matured in hogsheads, about 30% new, for about 18 months, with 2-3 rackings. Not filtered.

The Yarra Yering Pinot Noir is produced from what are amongst the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the Yarra Valley. Always aristocratic, fragrant with intense aromas of sweet strawberry and ripe plums, the Yarra Yering Pinot rounds out with mouthfilling notes of the same with a length hard to ignore.

All fruit is hand-picked early in the morning and immediately de-stemmed but not crushed. Some batches are left to cold soak for 4-5 days, while others are fermented immediately. Both natural and cultured yeasts are used. Both pumping over and punching down are used for cap management. Some ferments undergo post-ferment maceration depending on tannin structure and style. Wine lovers have a lot to thank (Hoddles Creek winemaker) Franco dAnna for... He crafts his affordable range with the same care and attention as his premium wines, meaning that even when watching ones pennies one can still drink top class wine. Toni Paterson MW of The Real Review After fermentation the wine is gently pressed to oak barrels, 30% new, 30% one year old, the rest two and three years old. After 11 months of barrel maturation, the wine is assembled and bottled without filtration or fining. Hoddles Creek Pinot Noir typically shows aromas and flavours of red berries and dark cherry. Ripe, firm mid-palate tannins give structure and lead into a long, attractive finish with pleasing acidity.

This 20ha vineyard was planted on red clay loam soil at Woori Yallock in 2001 by Lou Primavera, with whom Giant Steps has a long-standing grape-supply relationship. Pinot Noir (114, MV6 and G8V3 clones) grown here on the north and north east facing slopes at 230m is noted for its complex structure and pronounced perfume. The 114 and MV6 are fermented as whole bunches in open vats, while the G8V3 is destemmed, given a long cold-soak and fermented separately to enhance its aromatic contribution. All ferments use indigenous yeasts and the whole-bunch components are periodically foot-stomped to release additional juice. The wines are pressed to 228 litre, French barriques (about 8% new) for 11 months before blending and bottling without fining or filtration.

The wine is tightly packed full of black fruit, spice, cloves, and liquorice. The grape tannins are soft and are beautifully integrated into the wine, giving the wine structure and adding power, balance and a savoury richness. Adam Marks established Bress in 2001 with a desire to produce wines with fruit sourced from notable regions and minimal intervention.“We believe certain grape-growing regions are better suited to particular grape varieties than others,” says winemaker Adam Marks. “The French have understood this for several centuries and some Australian wine producers are now embracing this belief.” Bress, located in Harcourt near Bendigo, Victoria, is one such producer. Adam doesn’t restrict himself to sourcing grapes from one specific region; he’d rather make the most of the diversity of climates and soils central Victoria has to offer and looks to the Yarra Valley, Macedon Ranges, Bendigo and Heathcote for the best quality fruit.

Bright crimson in colour with a garnet hue, Lifted fruit aromatics of crushed strawberry , raspberry and pomegranate, with a floral perfume note and hints of green

The team at Oakridge are going from strength to strength these days and they are taking the Over The Shoulder range with them. Dry maraschino cherry and gently gamey yet clean mouthful of delicious Pinot! Really great finishing length for this sort of price!