Yarra Yering Dry Red No.2, Yarra Valley 2017

One of the wines that built Yarra Yerring's reputation in the 1970s, this medium bodied, yet concentrated red is 95% Shiraz with minor contributions from Mataro, Viognier and Marsanne. The fruit is hand picked and whole berry fermented before being aged for 15 months in French oak barriques prior to blending and bottling. It's quite up front with a generous, plump fruit character, bold tannins and a crisp acidity. And while full of ripe flavours it has a subtlety and restraint that marks it out from many of its compatriot wines.

Fragrant and heady this is drinking well already and will stay in peak condition all the way to the 2030s.

It was in 1969 that the founder of Yarra Yering, Dr Bailey Carrodus, made his first plantings at a site he considered ideal for viticulture at the foot of the Warramate Hills in the Yarra Valley east of Melbourne. A respected Oxford academic, he was looking for something to get his teeth into on his return to Australia following his retirement. As it turned out things took off in quite a fashion. A couple of his wines, namely Dry Red No.1 and Dry Red No.2, quickly gained an international reputation and set the winery on the path to global acclaim. After the death of Bailey Carrodus in 2008 the vineyard was acquired by a couple of Yarra Yering fans who wanted to make sure things would be carried on in the same manner. Since they’re still regularly cited among the best Yarra Valley vineyards that's certainly the case and under current winemaker Sarah Crowe the focus on delivering high quality wines remains undimmed.