The Yarra Yering Story

Yarra Yering winery, located in Victoria’s picturesque Yarra Valley, is an icon of the wine industry. Crowned as the 2021 Top Winery in Australia by wine business sentinel The Real Review, Yarra Yering is a treasure-trove of sights and tastes to delight the senses.

Established in the town of Gruyere in the late 1960s by celebrated winemaker Dr Bailey Carrodus, Yarra Yering is one of the Yarra Valley’s oldest and most beautiful vineyards and is less than one hour’s drive from the centre of Melbourne. Today, the winery is in the hands of Ed Peter and Reid Bosward, who are also owners of the Barossa Valley’s Kaesler Wines and vineyard.

The gorgeous expanses of the surrounding countryside are complemented by beautifully landscaped gardens at the Yarra Yering site. A mix of old historical buildings and modern architecturally designed dwellings invoke an atmosphere of both perfectly preserved tradition, and modern-day technical knowhow.

The most striking aspect of Yarra Yering is, of course, the wine. Since 2013, Sarah Crowe (named Winemaker of the Year in the 2017 Halliday Wine Companion Awards), has expanded the winery’s range of shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir and voignier – produced from the original vines planted by Dr Carrodus.

Yarra Yering, originally a 30-acre vineyard, now 70 acres of vines, makes powerful, concentrated and long-lasting wines, which have also been described by industry experts as fresh, finely structured, elegant and aromatic.

Fruit usually takes precedence over oak, and the tannins are harmonious and refined, resulting in drops of great balance.

The wines have received high praise, indeed. The wine blog vinography.com has gone so far as to say, “Tasting them provides the nearly unsettling sensation of tapping into something quite essential about what wine is, and should always be: a distillate of sun, earth, water, and a passion of feeling”.

And the wines really do speak for themselves. Yarra Yering cabernet sauvignon is a case in point. The label’s 2019 Carrodus Cabernet Sauvignon reveals charming notes of blackcurrants, graphite and bay leaf, and is a powerhouse of energy, purity and youthfulness.

Going back on year, the 2018 Warramate Cabernet Sauvignon is a medium-bodied drop in a classic claret style. This wine shines with a succulent, bright fruit-layered palate with earthy complexity and fine dusty tannins.

The high quality of the Yarra Yering fruit stems from the vineyard’s unique gravel and deep grey silty loam, which is rich in natural minerals.

Other important factors, including the area’s cool climate, all-day exposure to the warm sun and low-yielding old vines, help produce wines with highly concentrated pure fruit character, great natural acidity, fine minerality and excellent longevity – everything wine lovers want in a glass, frankly.

While blessed with an ideal environment for nurturing vines, Yarra Yering has invested in technology to make the most of nature’s bounty.

This includes sorting equipment that eases the removal of below-standard grapes and unwanted green stalk material before processing.

Vineyard management prioritises sustainability, hand picking, hand pruning and cropping at low levels in a quest for intensely flavoured fruit. The wines are matured in a combination of old and new French oak barriques, resulting in drops of high intensity and finesse.

The wines can be enjoyed while young, and cellar well under proper conditions (15 to 20 years will see these wines peak in complexity and sophistication).

Cellar Door

Drop into the Yarra Yering Cellar Door, located at the house of the late Dr Carrodus, nestled among the vineyards at Gruyere, Victoria. The building is made from old clay bricks, with high ceilings, exposed beams and windows which create a barn-like feel. A small and intimate cellar door experience, the tasting room has a homely feel thanks to the open fireplace enjoy tastings from the extensive wine list – including museum wines – with gorgeous vineyard scenery as your backdrop. yarrayering.com/cellar-door

Tasting notes

Yarra Yering Dry Red 1

Fruit power is the first impression, dark berry fruits and some sage adding a background herbal lift. The palate shows power and restraint at the same time. Beautiful fruit, a bright acid drive and tannins that form a solid foundation for the long future. This will be exciting to watch evolve.

Yarra Yering Dry Red 2

The fragrance is a melting pot of violets, plums, savoury spices and bramble. The palate is moderate in weight and there is cigar box and cardamom spice lending intrigue. Firm tannins ably support the fruit and texture and drive the palate. There is so much to love here.

Yarra Yering Agincourt Cabernet Malbec

Agincourt Cabernet always exhibits classic cabernet characters of cassis and dark berry fruits, along with a unique herbaceous touch. The Malbec plays its part with inky robust plum and black cherry and ample tannins to provide a beautifully balanced structure.