2021 Arlo’s Upper Yarra Pinot Noir

65% whole bunch and 20% new oak, from a single vineyard in Woori Yallock. The name ‘Arlo’ is so specifically American to me, as an aside.

Spicy, a little floral and minty, fresh red berries, subtle oak. It’s fine-boned and tight, a wine of delicacy and cool feel, though does have flavour too, again all the bright red berries, a lick of fine dusty tannin, and a clean finish of excellent length. Very fine and stylish. I like it a lot.

— Gary Walsh

2021 Yarra Valley Chardonnay

60% Woori Yallock P58 and 40% Macclesfield 76 clone Chardonnay. Quite the golden colour on it, and also a little fino sherry character too. Quite nutty and saline, bright juicy acidity, powdery texture, grilled peach and bruised apple, and a dry slightly chewy finish of good length. I like it, but it’s a different, kind […]

— Gary Walsh

2021 Yarra Valley Chardonnay

Upper Yarra fruit from vaunted sites in Woori Yallock and Macclesfield. This has no mlf (something I personally dislike), yet skin inflection, an attenuated wild ferment and brave lees handling have suffused the wine with textural verve and phenolic persuasion. The oak, beautifully appointed. Candied quince, cherry plum, tangerine and chalk. Racy, yet chewy and saliva inducing. This is a delicious wine that retains freshness without sacrificing personality.

— Ned Goodwin

2020 McLaren Vale Grenache

A single bush-vine site in Blewitt Springs. Sand over ferrous clay and varying degrees of limestone. Relatively young vines; 50% whole bunches delivering whiffs of amaro, sandalwood and mescal. Yet this spicy, herbal, campfire element melds impeccably with the sapid red cherry succulence, fecund strawberry, white pepper and clove to follow. A lovely wine. Best drunk on the earlier side such is the bunchy pinosity, but the tannins are lithe and sinuous, serving to corral any excess and drive a good 5 years of cellaring.

— Ned Goodwin

2021 Yarra Valley Strawberry Fields Pinot Meunier

Lasagna technique, whole berries atop bunches. Less this year, in search of fealty to site, apparently. Pressed to used barriques for a brief soothing and Bob is our uncle, so delicious is this. Tamarind, garam masala, mulch and strawberry and Seville orange chutney. Some mescal-bunchy notes, but nothing too distracting. Chill this and drink with gusto. Lightweight, intense, sapid and dangerous.

— Ned Goodwin

Andrew Graham has been reviewing our wines since we launched Rouleur back in 2015.

Click here to read the full reviews.

Andrew Graham has been reviewing our wines since we launched Rouleur back in 2015.

Click here to read the full reviews.

Given the caliber of talented winemakers in the group, we’re pretty pumped to have been involved.

2022 Pinot Gris et al

An ersatz field blend of 90/7/3% pinot gris/gewürztraminer/chardonnay, with half of the cuvée wild fermented on skins for six days. Maturation in used barriques to wonderful effect. A glorious onion skin hue mottled with pink, such that it could be a rosé. At once vibrant aromas of lychee, pickled cumquat, nashi pear, ginger and tamarind, yet by the same token, subtle and demur and embedded into the structural course of pucker and salty freshness. This is a delicious wine, defined by flavour, the right quotient of texture and a languid linger, hanging around and beckoning the next sip.

— Ned Goodwin MW

2021 Arlo’s Upper Yarra Valley Pinot Noir

From a region that increasingly challenges this fickle grape, this is impressive. A welt of tamarind, clove, Campari and mezcal-soused tannins. The latter edgy in the bunchy way, serving as a restraining order for punchy red fruits. Just the right amount of everything: verve, structure and fruit. Below, a carnal burr of autumnal mulch and game. Delicious!

— Ned Goodwin MW

2021 Issy’s Upper Yarra Valley Chardonnay

Matt East consistently crafts wines of intrigue and occasionally, confrontation. This is very good. Hand-picked fruit from Woori Yallock, a site of red soils muddled with grey volcanic loam. A smidgen crushed and skin-inflected, the remainder whole-bunch pressed. Fermented wild in 500L puncheons and old barriques. Incandescent white peach and nectarine riffs beam from the glass. The mid-palate: almond meal, dried porcini, tatami straw and cereal. A skein of juicy acidity drags impressive length while the judicious oak framework buffers excess. I'd bury this for five years to flesh it out. A tensile idiom. Lean, bright and detailed.

— Ned Goodwin MW

2022 McLaren Vale Shiraz

Typical regional shiraz spicy/earthy and sooty/charcoal aromas. Full bodied. A core of sweet fruit, backed up by plush tannins. Excellent shiraz. (From the Whaite vineyard, Blewitt Springs)McLaren Vale Shiraz

— Huon Hooke

2022 Pinot Gris et al

Pale pink hue; spicy aromas echoing that hint of gewürz, lively acidity, crisp and properly dry. A very smart wine. The gris is skin fermented but the tannins are under control.

— Huon Hooke

2021 Arlo’s Upper Yarra Pinot Noir

Bold black cherry aromas, fleshy palate, chocolate and ripe cherry to plum flavour range. Campari/fragrant, revealing a high percentage of whole-bunch ferment. Medium bodied but quite structured: tannin dries the finish. (From the Primavera vineyard, Woori Yallock)

— Huon Hooke

2022 Grenache

Spicy aromas reflecting 15% whole-bunch ferment; very good depth of flavour and fine, firm tannins. Medium bodied: an elegant modern style of McLaren Vale grenache. (From the Whaite vineyard, Blewitt Springs)

— Huon Hooke

2022 Macclesfield Pinot Noir

Dark cherry and spice aromas. Amazingly strong tannins, perhaps reflecting the fact that the yield was 700 kg instead of the more usual 5 tonnes.

— Huon Hooke

2022 Cobber Carbonic Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz

Very good colour; nutmeg/spice and violet aromas, meaty/spicy too. Rich palate, full-bodied, with impressive volume of flavour and lots of drive and grip thanks to those cabernet tannins. Lovely wine. (60% cabernet, 40% shiraz. From a 30 year-old vineyard at Kangaroo Ground. Some carbonic maceration/whole-bunch in the shiraz component)

— Huon Hooke

2022 Shiraz

Typical regional shiraz spicy/earthy and sooty/charcoal aromas. Full bodied. A core of sweet fruit, backed up by plush tannins. Excellent shiraz. (From the Whaite vineyard, Blewitt Springs)

— Huon Hooke

2021 Grenache

Spicy, nutty, squishy red fruits, mint, fair perfume. Medium-bodied, fresh, aniseed and red fruits, a gentle earthiness, fine grained pumice stone tannin, a little sappy/whole bunchy, but good energy here, and a lively red fruited and herb finish of excellent length. Lovely drink.

— Gary Walsh