Today’s rain is real, BOM definitely got it right for Victoria today. Although the steady sound on the roof seems to come with a sense of calm, there will be so much damage for some to deal with in the coming days. Rain – essential for survival of all living things, however, too much feels so destructive.

In saying that, the property is looking stunning. The cattle are grazing lush crops and pastures full of clover, the vineyards are looking manicured and fresh straw mulch is going down, in the hope we get some warmer weather this summer.

Tomorrow, we say goodbye to our assistant winemaker, Joel. Joel has been with Wine by Farr for a little over 5 years, and in that time has helped us to achieve some amazing accolades. Committed and hardworking, Joel has been an asset to the team, and he will be missed. We wish Joel and his family every success, as they re-locate back closer to their hometown in NSW.

With the last couple of years of restrictions slowly fading to more of a memory, Gary and Nick were fortunate to travel to Burgundy in September, for vintage at Domaine Dujac. It has been 20 years since they were last there together, and both have come home feeling inspired, creating much discussion on the differences between the climates, and feeling grateful for the vineyards and homes they each have here in Bannockburn.

To make sure things are always progressing, plans are in place to extend ‘Pam’s Pinot block’, which sits alongside the Sangeral block. Pam’s block was first planted in 2016, and thus far, is proving to be rather exciting. The wine has been bottled separately, and is patiently waiting for its progression, and chance to show you what it has to offer.

With this newsletter, we release to you our most prestigious wines, the ‘GC’ Chardonnay 2021, ‘RP’ Pinot Noir 2020 and the Tout Pres Pinot Noir 2020. In their previous vintage, both of these Pinot Noir’s received scores of 99 points by one reviewer, and although our wines are not made for the purpose of scores, we truly believe these wines are headed in the best direction.

Tasting notes, courtesy of Ben Knight (Ben and Wine).

GC Chardonnay 2021
The ‘GC’ has elegance and finesse, it’s not brittle, but offers greater precision and detail. White florals, citrus, nectarine and stones. The colour is just a notch deeper, the wine shows greater richness, greater density. Such a polished Chardonnay, utterly seamless, thrilling.

‘RP’ Pinot Noir by Farr 2020
Obvious spice and tang from whole bunch, but nothing underdone, all ripe and resolved. It heads off those vineyard elements with a formidable counter punch from the ripe sweet fruit notes. Its comforting spice sits right behind, and then comes the acid, combining each element and putting them on display in one wine.

Tout Pres by Farr Pinot Noir 2020
Classic whole bunch on the nose, spice and heady ripe fruit notes intermingle. A more expressive, single-minded wine that will shape shift in the cellar almost as much as it does on your palate. Ripe fruit notes, layered between sweet spice, cardamon, dill, sour cherry, graphite and pepper. The most structured of the trio, the most engaging and arguably polarising. The Tout Pres feels wild with a mouth-watering savouriness and endless complexity.

Both of these Pinot Noir’s will certainly benefit from cellar aging, being from what was quite a structured, and multilayered tannin vintage. If you cannot wait to try them, we would recommend you decanter a couple of hours before drinking them, to allow the fruit to open up.

The ‘GC’ Chardonnay 2021, ‘RP’ Pinot Noir 2020, and the Tout Pres by Farr Pinot Noir 2020, are now available through our online store, and we can’t wait for you to try them. There is also a ‘Tasting Pack’, ready to purchase, containing 2 of each of these wines. When purchasing these wines, the price will be adjusted automatically when you use the below coupon code, so you will not see a reduction as such on your order. This offer will be available until Sunday the 30th of October 2022, if not sold out prior. The coupon code will only discount these wines. All mail orders now leave our winery on Wednesday’s.

If you do not live in a capital city or within CBD perimeters, it would be greatly appreciated if you could please tick the ‘country / regional’ shipping when placing orders. We offer free shipping within all capital cities and CBD, and heavily subsidise all regional/country shipping costs.

Coupon Code - Flooding

There is a recap of both vintage 2020, and 2021 available online.