Yeringberg Shiraz 2014

Product Information: Museum Release. The 2014 Shiraz hails from Yeringberg’s ‘new’ vineyard site at the time, and it effortlessly continues the estate’s hallmark style of balance, elegance, and freshness. This Shiraz exemplifies Yeringberg’s signature character, with cool, pure blue fruit, pepper, and spice on the nose, accompanied by subtle hints of apricot, liquorice, and graphite. There’s an openness and exotic presence to the wine—confident yet understated. The palate flows with gentle restraint, offering a sappy freshness now matured into a harmonious, sumptuous texture, showcasing the wine’s graceful evolution. A blend of 97% Shiraz, 2% Marsanne, and 1% Viognier, the wine includes 9% whole bunches and spent 9-12 days on skins. It was matured for 18 months in French oak (28% new), adding complexity and refinement to this elegant Museum Release. “Shiraz was part of the very first vineyard plantings at Yeringberg in 1863. 160 years later, and through times of feast and famine, Shiraz has shown a tenacity to keep delivering stunning wine in this region and on this site.” — Yeringberg Maker: Guill de Pury grew up beside the original, now-defunct 19th-century winery in Coldstream, where a lack of interest in fine table wines had led to a halt in production by 1921. Thanks to Guill and his wife, Katherine, the vineyard was replanted in 1969, and through their dedicated efforts, Yeringberg’s reputation as a great Australian estate was gradually restored. Their first commercial wine was released in 1974. Since 2008, their daughter Sandra has taken on the winemaking, while her brother David, with a PhD in plant physiology, manages the vineyards and Yeringberg’s grass-fed lamb and cattle operations. Sandra’s journey took her from working as a chef in Hong Kong to studying hotel management in Switzerland, and later earning an MBA at the University of Melbourne. She worked as a management consultant before returning to her family heritage and succumbing to the wine bug. Sandra is now the fourth-generation winemaker at Yeringberg, viewing winemaking as “the perfect combination of intellectual, physical, and sensory engagement.” The Philosophy: As Yarra Valley pioneers, the de Pury family is known for crafting wines of finesse and elegance, epitomising the finest expressions of the region. Yeringberg’s wines are produced from low-yielding vines, re-established on the heart of what was one of the Yarra’s most famous vineyards in the 19th century. In riper years, the red wines showcase a velvety generosity of flavour, while always retaining the varietal character that defines them. These are long-lived wines, made in small quantities, continuing Yeringberg’s legacy as one of the Yarra Valley’s oldest and most important producers. Nose – Red/Black Cherry, Bramble, Foresty Red and black cherry, with a faint touch of raspberry, balanced by a hint of bramble. Palate – Game, Hints of Apricot, Pepper It runs with redcurrant but from there come breakouts of meat, violets, black pepper, jellied liquorice, stems and mint. Finish – Stems, Jellied Licorice, Cloves The texture generally is quite silken but the wine as a whole does not go quietly, as indeed it shouldn’t. Bright crimson-purple; a superbly crafted wine with infinite attention to detail. Red and black cherry, with a faint touch of raspberry, balanced by a hint of bramble, make the task of deconstructing the palate nigh on impossible, simply because there will be so many different readings of its message – but with one exception: its undeniable quality. -James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion 2018, 96 points. Shiraz from one of Australia’s greatest estates. I thought we’d already reviewed this; not sure how it slipped through the net. Thankfully the ‘crowd-funding’ side of TWF audience kept us up to the task. You name it, it’s here. This is the antithesis of a simple red. Every time you sip you find something different. It runs with redcurrant but from there come breakouts of meat, violets, black pepper, jellied liquorice, stems and mint. Tannin is grunty, almost grainy, with cloves and peppers studded through. The texture generally is quite silken but the wine as a whole does not go quietly, as indeed it shouldn’t. Beyond a certain price point we want more than mere fruit; the brief is met here. Excellent wine. For the dinner table, we sail. – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front 2017, 93+ points. Medium to full ruby-red colour. The bouquet is shy, subdued and foresty, with savoury nuances overlapping black cherry to blackberry fruit flavours, plus subtle spice notes and a hint of mint. A very pleasing and elegant style of shiraz, well-structured but also very approachable. – Huon Hooke, The