Ample and dark fruited, with a smoky, savoury feel. Plenty of spice amid the berry fruits, with lovely earthy and graphite notes running through. Predominantly from Garagiste's Balnarring, Tuerong and Merricks vineyards, with a small proportion of Red Hill fruit. The grapes were sorted then destemmed--a small percentage of the Merricks portion was fermented with a 100% whole bunches--and fermented in small open fermenters using indigenous yeast, minimal hand plunging and spending 25 days on skins. The wine was aged for ten months in 10% new hogsheads with the balance being raised in older hogsheads. Unfined and unfiltered. Barnaby Flanders created the Garagiste label following his amicable split with Allies co-founder David Chapman (who continues with the Allies label). Barney now focuses on a snug range of small-batch wines from fruit sourced from the highly prized Merricks Grove vineyard, the Silverwood vineyard (Balnarring), and the Hugh Robinson vineyard in Moorooduc. Garagiste, the main label, is ably supported by delicious entry-level wines under the Le Stagiaire banner. Barnaby and Cam (Marshall) manage all aspects of the viticulture and winemaking themselves and a range of succulent, finely tuned and elegantly crafted cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is what results.

As well as having established herself firmly in Burgundy, having been named Winemaker of the Year by Frances top wine magazine, Jane Eyre also makes small parcels of top-sited pinots here in Australia. The emphasis is always on fragrance and elegance in these excellent wines.

Yabby Lake's approach to viticulture and winemaking is peerless; lifted red fruits, silky mid-palate with undergrowthy nuances, and extended finish mean a wine with class written all over it.

This savoury Pinot Noir is the result of an assemblage of twelve individual batches sourced from our Maroondah Highway vineyard. Subtle aromas of rhubarb, violets, earth, chervil, mace, leather, pencil shavings & cocoa nib with a stemmy note contributed by fermention with stalks. The composed elegant palate exhibits strawberry, tamarind & peach stone tartness from ingrained natural acidity, softly spreading fruit weight & sweeping talc-like tannins.

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 Victoria's first vineyard comes Little Yering, a bright, youthful and delicious Pinot Noir from Victoria's home for the variety, the Yarra Valley. Sourced from vineyards in the upper Yarra and the valley floor itself to provide a perfect balance between lifted aromas and notes of savouriness along with lush, rich and mouth-filling juice from the flats.

Premium producer on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula, Ten Minutes by Tractor, are in the enviable position of having three outstanding 'home' blocks in which to choose and blend fruit from to create Pinot Noir's of elegance and purity. Judd, McCutcheon and Wallis are all utilised to reflect the cool-climate of Main Ridge, one of the coolest parts of the region. At play in the wine are flavours that bounce between sweet fruit and savouriness along with a length of flavour befitting a wine of such pedigree.

Musk Creek Pinot Noir is evolving slowly to open up to its full potential. Some spearmint, raspberry and spice aroma; palate is moderate weight, silky and fine natural acid.