YARRA BURN Pinot Noir-Chardonnay-Pinot Meunier, Yarra Valley

An excellent new discovery from the home of Pinot the Yarra Valley. In the glass: Medium garnet. On the nose: Blood plum, red cherry and clove with tilled earth and tea leaf notes. On the palate: Medium weight and savoury with a fine tannin backbone underpinning the refined core of red and black fruit. Finishes with earthy spice adding complexity to the persistent finish. An elegant wine that really unfolds in the glass.

Picked from a block of gris on the Napoleone Vineyard in the Yarra Valley which is nurtured to hang a touch longer, with better tannin maturity than the fruit picked for the Punt Road Pinot Gris. Whole berry and whole bunch ferments are conducted in isolation in one-tonne open pots. They were pressed separately to oak this year, but in the end both went in their entirety into the blend. The bunch ferments developed a very significant funk this year, and it was good to see this in the finished wine. The berry ferments supply musk flavour and fruit sweetness. Its all about the bunch though: Campari, aniseed and kombucha. Unfined and minimally filtered. The perfect companion in Spring or Summer.

This is our first bottling from the bizarre 2020 vintage, which went from ridiculous to sublime. We had very small crops, early tannin ripeness and picked at low baumé. We avoided disease pressure in a very difficult year for that, and ended up with more transparency and freshness in the fruit than 2019. This year we were back to a 50:50 mix of skins and whole-bunch ferments. The skins ferment was 72 hours, with light hand-plunging every 12 hours during that time. The wine was pressed at 8 baumé to old puncheons. The whole-bunch ferment was on skins for 14 days, with carbonic maceration until some light pigeage on days 12 and 13. It was pressed to old puncheons to finish ferment. Both batches had two months in oak unsulphured. The wine was racked in early May, with minimal filtration and no finings. 40ppm of SO2 was added prior to bottling. This vintage we focused on prettiness with supporting notes of funk and bunch. There was no shortage of flavour about; itâs an intense year for that but also characterised by high natural acidity â perfect for skinsy styles, which can otherwise become a bit soapy. And of course Iâm very pleased with the colour, a perfect match for the new label⦠- Tim Shand, Punt Road

A beautifully crafted Syrah from Yarra Valley experts, Giant Steps, sourced from their Tarraford vineyard. Yarra elegance at its best.Deep red. Violets, plum, blackberry and Campari spice. Vibrant and juicy yet deeply flavoured, showing black and purple fruit density, gently savoury tannins, supple acidity and whole bunch spice, and deliciously deluxe charry oak.

Cornelius Ribbe is a part time wine importer and part time winemaker at Paradigm Hill (Mornington Peninsula), while also making this very tasty wine. Classic Mornington Pinot, with some sappy red fruit, medium weight and savoury notes. Its ultra silky on the palate but maintains some nice structure making it perfect for glazed salmon.

A bright, fresh Cabernet from the Yarra made for drinking in it's youth. Great value and dangerously easy to drink!