2019 Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 (375ml)

Midnight black heart with a deep bright dark red black hue. Alluring ripe blackcurrant and mulberry fruits drift from the glass with ample intensity followed by some earth, vanillin cedar, hints of violets, faint tobacco and subtle bay leaf notes. Beautifully shaped rich red to black currant fruits show terrific depth across the mid weighted palate. Chiming in for added complexity are mulberry, vanillin cedar, light earth, delicate spicy tobacco nuances and bay leaf. Super polished tannins seamlessly integrate with the fruit and provide a superb framework for longer term cellaring. Concludes with great finesse, sophistication and length. A brilliant No. 1.
Drink over the next 10-15 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews....
67/15/12/6% cabernet sauvignon/merlot/malbec/petit verdot. The first plantings at YY into block No 1 were these cabernet and malbec vines, hence the name. Some merlot was interplanted with the cabernet and subsequent plantings in 1990 from a newly acquired neighbouring site. Petit verdot is only grown on the hillside of the new territories. All hand harvested and sorted, only the very best berries go into this wine. Cabernet berries sorted individually before crushed. Merlot, malbec and petit verdot are whole-berry ferments. All fermented in half-tonne fermenters, hand plunged twice daily. Some of the cabernet spends more time on skins. Components are kept separate in French oak 40% new, 15 months all up then blended just before bottling. This is mesmerising. Do take time to bask in its fragrance – all floral and spicy with some aniseed and fresh herbs. Enjoy the poised fruit flavours of blackberries, mulberries and a hint of blueberries coated in spicy oak and tethered to the body of the wine. Pulsing acidity and beautiful tannin structure shape this and offer a promise of more to come in time. Wow – what a wine. Drink by 2039.
98 Points
Jane Faulkner - James Halliday's Wine Companion (January 2021)

The nose speaks to cabernet, with aromas of leaves and fresh herbs, red fruit and blueberries, as well as some forest wood. The palate is concentrated and delivers the same mix of red and blue fruit with a double-act of focus and power. More medium-bodied than full. A blend of cabernet sauvignon, merlot, malbec and petit verdot. Drink over the next decade or more. Screw cap.
96 Points
JamesSuckling.com (February 2022)