Bindi - Macedon Ranges

As is normal, each barrel was filled directly from the press tray and a small amount of So2 was added. The wild yeast generally take five days to begin to ferment the sugars and most barrels took five to six weeks to complete the fermentation. The wine spent 11 months in barrel. Every so often we fall in love with a particular wine. Of course we enjoy and admire each of the wines in every year for their personality and delicious nature but every so often there's a wine that really captures our affection. The 2019 Kostas Rind Chardonnay is one such wine. This wine gives and hides, has forward characters and as well as restraint. There are the usual floral and blossom aromas mixed with citrus, spice and chalkiness. There is a lovely depth of stone fruit concentration. The palate is initially supple then intensifies and brightens and has beautiful texture, harmony and length. It really is very delicious! This is the 29th wine from this vineyard (Est. 1988) and we can comfortably say it will improve for six to ten years and drink well over a 15 to 20 year window. Michael Dhillon, Bindi

A bottle of this was opened all of 2 hours after the wine arriving into stock. It’s a Chardonnay to contemplate and to watch evolve over time in the glass. Certainly over the few hours we had it open, the wine revealed itself more and more and changed shape (with temperature also playing an important role). There is a lot going on here: white flowers and some citrus on the nose, a palate of crackling acidity and nerve, some stone fruit, and then layer upon layer of meal, oat and nut. It has a deep concentration and an effortless delivery of flavour.  Ches Cook, FWC.

The 2019 Dixon spent 11 months in barrel and was bottled in early March. This is a deep and layered Dixon, a composition from the original 1988 planting and the 2001 Kaye vineyard. It is very youthful and ideally needs six to twelve months bottle age. At this point it is most delicious on the second and third days after opening. There are layers of red and dark berries intermixed with spices, earth and flint. There are delicious floral and undergrowth nuances that rise with breathing. The palate is powerful and full with ripe, smooth tannins and gentle acidity keeping the fruit bright and the palate clean and balanced. The first wine from these areas was in 2004 and it and the subsequent wines are all delicious to drink today. So, when is best to drink this wine? A glass today, two tomorrow and two the next day. Or from mid 2021 and beyond. Michael Dhillon, Bindi

Michael’s note above pretty much sums this wine up perfectly. There is plenty of weight and body to this Pinot with a core of clean, dark berried fruit. It carries spice with an aperol/amoro kicker and will be a wine that lives for 15-20 years. Older examples out of dad’s cellar always blow us away, especially considering this is Michael’s ‘entry level’ Pinot…  Ches Cook, FWC.

We have been delving back into the Shiraz wines and having fun seeing the continuity of style going back two decades now. The seasonal stamp is always there, these are not formulaic wines scrubbed and rubbed into a overriding house style, for the harvest date and winemaking is focused in ensuring a balanced wine that shows the markings of the year. (As James Halliday says, a Pinot Noir winemaker's Shiraz!). The 2018 is a high watermark. This wine balances fruit freshness, red and dark berries and plum, with earthiness and spice. There is brightness and vigour working in with silky texture and finesse. The Pyrette style is founded on seeking harmony and this is what sees the wines age so gracefully. Whilst the 2018 is delicious and offers complexity to enjoy today another five to ten years will add further depth and palate flow. Michael Dhillon, Bindi

This is obviously a very sentimental wine from our elevated vineyard, planted in 2001, that pays tribute to my mother, Kaye. It's a vineyard with a stunning perspective over the other vineyards, the winery, house and to the forests and hills beyond. There are some lovely metaphors, no doubt. The site has a lot of quartz and mudstone, a smattering of volcanic soils that have eroded down from the volcanic plateau above, and produces a wine of fragrance, structure and complexity. The 2016 is a stylish wine that enjoys the benefit of nearly three years in bottle. The rose petal like perfume mixes with red and dark cherry and spice and has seductive creamy and earthy aromas. The palate is harmonious and builds power through chewy tannin, fruit weight and brightening acidity. It will continue to gain creamy texture as the tannins soften, then more earth and savouriness will appear yet the fragrance will remain. Michael Dhillon, Bindi