Journey Wines

Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2018

Winter and Spring were both cool with plentiful rainfall. Summer was warm to hot, with above-average rainfall through December. Thankfully the rain stopped in early January, with a lengthy mild and sunny lead up to harvest.

The fruit was 80% destemmed, with 20% whole bunches included in open fermenters ranging from 1-4 tonnes in capacity. Fermentation commenced in its own time using only wild yeast. The cap was gently hand plunged and also pumped over once per day during the peak of fermentation. After an average of 14 days on skins the wine was pressed and transferred to barrel. 20% of the oak was new French barriques (Dargaud & Jaegle, D'Aquitaine and Tremeaux), with the remainder in older French barriques. Maturation in oak lasted for around 9 months before bottling on 19th December 2018.

Our 2018 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir has a sparkling dark-garnet colour. The nose shows an intense bouquet of red berries, plums and sour cherries complemented by forest-floor aromas and subtle oak. The palate is concentrated and complex, dark cherry flavours are balanced with savoury spice. Silky tannins lead on to a delightfully long finish.