Yarra Valley weekend visit / impressions

[winetastic]

Many (most?) of the better producers in the Yarra Valley do not have a cellar door. That being said, there is some great wine being made there, as well as a large amount of passable yet generic gear.

A few impressions to follow, loosely arranged best to worst.

Mac Forbes
Rather than your typical cellar door at the winery situation they have a "wine room" in Healesville which operates as a tasting room, wine education venue and wine bar with light bites.

We sat down for a paid tasting flight ($20/pp, refundable on purchase) which was somewhat meandering for the group as a whole since we have varied tastes and the selection of wines available to taste is very broad. Personally I focused in on all the single vineyard Pinot's, having a personal preference for the Woori Yallock. All the wines are elegant and the Pinots in particular rather fine boned, yet with some patience and cellaring time, really flesh out and leave you with world class wines which throw away the typically awkward Australian level of ripeness and oak treatment.

There were plenty of back vintage Mac Forbes wines available to purchase by the bottle, and we went for a 2008 Yarra Valley Chardonnay followed by a 2006 Woori Yallock Pinot Noir - both of which are among the finest Australian wines I have ever tasted.

Yarra Yering
Great paid tasting (refundable on purchase) which includes some back vintages.

They have an 'ultra premium' range of wines called Carrodus up around the $200-250 mark, however they are all too big, overworked and overoaked - stick with the standard offerings which are universally better.

Highlights for me were the Chardonnay, Pinot, Light Dry Red Wine (Shiraz/Pinot) and Dry Red #2 (Cab/Merlot).

Remains a benchmark producer for the area and of course is priced as such.

Punt Road
If the $20-30 price bracket is your thing, these guys will deliver value in spades. Pinot is outstanding for the price.

St Huberts
The method traditional sparking is actually outstanding at $30/bottle. The rest of the range consists of generic Australian wine.

Dominique Portet
The method traditional sparking rose remains very good at $30/bottle. The rest of the wines are good and reasonably priced, but I wont be seeking them out.

Yering Station
We had lunch at the attached wine bar restaurant. They had a selection of back vintage sparking wines as well as a late disgorged 2005 offering which was fantastic. The food was variable, some dishes excellent, some rather average. Value for money on the wine was high, food was low.

Other than the sparklers, the rest is generic Australian wine.

Levantine Hill
Tasted the wines in the context of their restaurant Ezard, where they are paired with various dishes. Wines are obscenely overpriced in this situation and are on the whole, generic Australian wine.

Many of the dishes were excellent, however the overall service and offering was note quite up to the price they were asking - pour a rose then wait 30min wait between courses when the venue is essentially empty? A second 30min wait between courses? Staff unable to explain the difference between the regular wine pairings and the "premium" wine pairings other than sprouting some nonsense about the wines being "made for various family members"?

Do not eat here.

While not entirely their fault, a 50min wait for a Taxi after 23:00 is quite absurd. If that were the situation around my restaurant and I was charging $400/head, I would do something about it, such as arranging a shuttle service or attempting to help coordinate with the taxi company ahead of time.

Madden's Rise
Organic winery which is all the better for it. The Nebbiolo shows some promise.

Giant Steps
Generic Australian wine.

Chandon
Exists to receive busloads of tourists.

Innocent Bystander
Wine on tap.

[Chris H]

Excellent insicive comments

[Mark Carrington]

Most useful. Later in the year, we finish our trip in Healesville.
Hadn't appreciated that quite a few producers didn't have a cellar door, though I suspected a certain one wouldn't.

[Ozzie W]

Giant Steps
Generic Australian wine.

Don't know what they had on tasting when you visited, but I think the 2015 single vineyard Pinots are fantastic. I've had many great '10s and '12s before as well.

[phillisc]

Thanks Winetastic...$400 a head, sheesh
Had two great meals earlier in the year at Oakridge estate and Healsville Pub...at 1/2 to 1/4 the price of what you mentioned...I find winery restaurants in the main take the opportunity to take the piss..."oh its a privilege to have our wines here with food!" and you will pay for it!

Cheers
Craig

[winetastic]

Thanks Winetastic...$400 a head, sheesh

To be fair, we were expecting something like $250-300/head - it was an 8 course tasting menu after all. But with the prices charged for their own wines as a pairing, it was a bit rich.

[winetastic]

Giant Steps
Generic Australian wine.

Don't know what they had on tasting when you visited, but I think the 2015 single vineyard Pinots are fantastic. I've had many great '10s and '12s before as well.

No single vineyard Pinots were available for tasting when we were there, just the "yarra valley" version from 2016. It was fine, but there is no compelling reason to buy it over the equivalent from say Hoddles Creek or Mac Forbes.