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2021 was a cool vintage with good crops. Bolstered by slow ripening tannins and layers of gently spicy dark fruit this wine is a revelation. Wonderfully bright, ripe and textural.

A typically elegant Yarra Cabernet. The nose shows cassis and blackberry aromas with subtle cedary oak and the palate has a silky mouthfeel with sweet berry flavours and a lovely lingering finish.

Mac Forbes philosophy towards pinot is to look after the detail, keep it simple and respect the fruit. The onus is on fruit quality and balance and not on winemaking solutions or corrections. For them winemaking is an extension of the vineyard where they aim to capture the fruit expression and carry this through to bottle. They pick when the fruit is ripe but still crunchy to taste. The Yarra Valley Pinot is a blend of Mac Forbes declassified barrels from their grower vineyards and the Mac Forbes single vineyard sites. The Bordeaux blend is still arguably the most successful of all grapes or blends from the Yarra Valley. At relatively low alcohols the wines are elegant, perfumed and ripe. While approachable as a young wine, Hugh will age gracefully for twenty plus years. In this wine Cabernet Sauvignon is the dominant variety and is complimented by Cabernet Franc and Petit Verdot.

Conceived as our homage to the pioneering game-changing ‘Super Tuscan’ Vino da Tavola blends of Firenze (specifically Marchesi Antinori’s ‘Solaia’ from their Tenuta Tignanello) and Bolgheri in western central Italy. This blend of the intensely-fruited traditional Bordelaise grape variety with the earthy asperity of Sangiovese takes strengths from each of its requisite components to make a wine of regal rusticity that treads a path a little less travelled. The aroma is underpinned by an uncommon and intriguing earthiness. A mélange of red and black wild fruits, currants, plums and sarsparilla are underpinned by savoury notes of nutmeg, olive tapenade, maquis and charred capretto weaving amongst a top note of leafiness. Its dense yet refined sanguineous palate is replete with juicy flavours of mulberry, blood orange, Amaretto, Szechuan pepper, black tea and cocoa powder. The all-singing all-dancing palate runs deep, reverberating with char, dark fruits and a subtle acid line enhanced by a slow build of graphitic tannins and subtle Cynaresque bitterness. This wine is suitable for vegans.

In early March, we hand harvested 6 tonnes of Cabernet sauvignon from our cane pruned, lower yielding section of our Cabernet sauvignon. The grapes were destemmed and very gently crushed prior to fermentation. Throughout fermentation, a range of cap management processes was used in order to extract colour and fine tannin. Once alcoholic fermentation was complete, the tanks were filled and allowed to macerate on their skins for 6 weeks. The post fermentation maceration allowed us to build tannin structure in the wine, without adding bitterness or astringency.The wine was placed in French oak barrels for malolactic fermentation, followed by ageing for 12 months. At the end of the ageing, individual barrels were selected for the final blend. The wine required no further treatment except bottling.While 2017 was a cooler year, our 2017 Alena Cabernet Sauvignon still displays the classic Yarra Valley characteristics of cassis, violets and chocolate. This is all supported by refined tannins and the sweet spice from the oak. The wine is very young, after bottling in July 2018, and will reward time in the cellar.Such a fine, complex wine requires a fine, complex match with food.

Yarra Yering is not only a Victorian icon, but a true Australian wine treasure. The Underhill Shiraz is sourced exclusively from the 1974 planted block of Shiraz at the western-most extremity of the vineyard. Drawn from soils with a higher clay base which has resulted in a wine of a more masculine bent offering darker fruits and spice with chewier tannins and a savoury undertone.

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.

William Downie and the Thousand Candles team are keen to expand our understanding of premium wine from the Yarra Valley. A shy complexity; a layered sense of tone and colour, and a nervous acceleration as the wine slips seamlessly from beginning to end. A wine that tells the story of its place more so than its varietals. A wine that pushes the boundaries, from one of Australia's most innovative and skilled wine makers.

From some of the earliest plantings of Shiraz in the Yarra Valley with vines dating back to 1969. Shiraz (96%) co-fermented with small parcels of Viognier, Marsanne and Mataro aged 12 to 18 months in 50% new French oak barrels produces a wine that is perfumed and feminine with the tannins and acidity as integral to the wine as the fruit. Proven to age for 25+ years, Yarra Yering Dry Red No 2 was the first Cote Rotie style blend made in Australia

Bright, medium red. Exotic dark fruits, spice and flowers. Sweet grilled meats, ample flavours, tautly structural, good dimension, fine tannins. Located at Woori Yallock in the upper reaches of the Yarra Valley. Extraordinary north facing De Bortoli family owned vineyard. Planted in 1985, close vine spacing, lots of manual work in the vines, deep red basalt soils. Typically produces fine, aromatic and charming Pinot Noir.Hand picked and sorted to ensure perfect fruit reaches the fermenter. A combination of whole berry fermentation and whole bunches. Pressed after 16 days on skins. Matured on fine lees in new and used casks for 8 months. Gravity at all stages. Bottled in January, 2019. One of Australia's more dynamic family wine businesses, De Bortoli wines is now in it's third generation, having been first established by Vittorio and Giuseppina De Bortoli in 1928 with the business then driven by their son Deen De Bortoli and now third generation Darren De Bortoli alongside his sister Leanne and her husband, De Bortoli Chief Winemaker Steve Webber. De Bortoli wines has been historically based at Bilbul (near Griffith) in the NSW Riverina, but more recently they have expanded into the Yarra Valley (where Leanne and Steve Webber are based), the Hunter Valley and also into Victoria's King Valley. The emphasis in all of the vineyards has always been upon innovation, with De Bortoli credited with the creation of Australia's most famous dessert wine, the Noble One. The De Bortoli winemaking philosophy is that great wine begins in the vineyard. Their belief is that sustainable vineyard practices will deliver exceptional fruit quality to the winery as well as real environmental benefits. With a focus on careful site selection, vine maturity, high input viticulture and a move towards biological farming principles, De Bortoli Wines are also focusing more and more on single vineyard wines and the expression of specific terroir through their wine. In the winery, minimal (more...)