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Hoddles Creek 1er Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, 2021

From just 28 rows of the Top Paddock vineyard; about 20% is whole bunch fermented to promote finer tannins; given 18 months in cask and then bottled without filtering, fining or stabilising. Very fragrant nose – dark fruit with a touch of spice. Excellent depth of flavour on the palate, offering a range of fruits from black cherries to raspberries. Splendid drive and length. We love this wine as it defies categorisation: neither Burgundian nor “new world” in style, it’s Franco’s most distinctive, intense and satisfying expression of this great red grape. Now-2028

Here are some of the jewels of our portfolio: winemaker Franco D’Anna’s wines are hugely applauded both in Australia and whenever we send samples to journalists here. All vines are hand pruned and harvested; and all grapes are crushed at the family’s winery, constructed for the 2003 vintage. The family owns ten hectares of Pinot Noir (five clones) and six of Chardonnay, plus Pinot Gris and other reds, situated in the highest and coolest district of the Upper Yarra. Winemaking is determinedly non-interventionist: some whole bunches are put in the tank; all fermented with wild yeasts, without additions of enzymes or acid; and bottled without fining or filtration.

“Fortuitously, in 1960, the D’Anna family had purchased a steeply forested 25ha property which in 1997 they set about planting. Almost overnight, glorious pinot noirs and chardonnays started to flow at prices that were irresistible – and still are.” James Halliday, top Australian wine critic.