Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Sandra de Pury’s father started replanting his family’s estate in 1969, beginning with the cabernet sauvignon, later adding franc, malbec, merlot and petit verdot. She blends their fruit into this classic cool-climate red, sleek in its integration of herbal complexities and earthy depths. The wine’s tannins are rich enough to feel chocolatey, or maybe like finely worked leather. They provide the base layer for bright cherry flavors and green herb scents, all working together ward a soft, clean finish.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Medium garnet-purple colored, the 2013 Proprietary Red has a classic nose of red and black currants, black berries, plums and pencil shavings with a waft of bay leaves. Light to medium-bodied, the palate is elegant and finely structured, with beautifully ripe tannins and a great intensity of red and black berries, finishing long with a gentle herbal lift.
Rating: 91+
One of the world’s most classic and popular styles of red wine, Bordeaux-inspired blends have spread from their homeland in France to nearly every corner of the New World. Typically based on either Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot and supported by Cabernet Franc, Malbec and Petit Verdot, the best of these are densely hued, fragrant, full of fruit and boast a structure that begs for cellar time. Somm Secret—Blends from Bordeaux are generally earthier compared to those from the New World, which tend to be fruit-dominant.
As the most important area of wine production in Victoria today, the Yarra Valley is most popular for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which account for over half of vineyard acreage. A gentle, rolling and rural region alongside the Margaret River, the Yarra Valley has a cool maritime climate with a lengthy growing season, perfect for these cool-climate varieties.
Two styles of Pinot Noir are possible here. The warmer Lower Yarra Valley with sandy, loam soils, produces plush and fruity Pinot Noir while the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley with soils of young red basalt, produces more angular and mineral-driven Pinot Noir.
Yarra Valley Chardonnay is among the best in Australia. To preserve the floral aromatics and fresh citrus flavors for which this area’s Chardonnay is so appreciated, time in barrel is restrained (though barrel fermentation is common). The best Yarra Valley Chardonnays display brilliant acidity, leesy characteristics, citrus, stone fruit and flavors of ginger and spice.
Shiraz and Cabernet find success in parts of this region as well.