Description

A small vineyard in St Andrews, Yarra Valley tended by the Trist family. It is a labour of love in the vineyard and great fruit is handed over the James Lance (awesome winemaker of Punch and ex Diamond Valley) and made with the help of son Joel Trist. There is a lot of pragmatic decisions made but ultimately the wines across the range are really beautiful to drink.

An instant with my olfactory, the perfume jumps out of the glass. Fragrant strawberries, roses, oak all rush up with supporting characters evolving over time. There is a plushness to this wine that borders on perfection and the toasty oak offers a counterpoint to stop it getting too fruity. Yum. Drink it now, it’ll improve for another 10 years but you’ll taste it and drink it all now and I can’t blame you. Classic Pinot calls for one thing – duck. It’s been done a lot, but for a very good reason, it is awesome.

Yarra Valley – A region that is just too big to generalise about. The difference between Upper and Lower Yarra can be the ability to ripen some grapes or not. Great wines are made in the Yarra but it is best to know the producers.

Pinot Noir – This is the most elusive grape. It is relatively early ripening and extremely sensitive to terroir. Its perfect place on earth is the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. So haunting are great red Burgundy’s charms that growers everywhere try to emulate them. Pinot Noir is not just a one trick pony, it can make great reds, rosé, sparkling and even sweet wines, whites on occasion and I’ve tasted a decent fortified Pinot Noir too.