2015 Yarra Yering Pinot Noir

The better the fruit quality and condition the less winemaking influence is required to deliver premium wine that lasts through the ages. All fruit at Yarra Yering is hand-picked into 10kg picking buckets in the cool of the morning, and delivered direct to the winery. The fruit is sorted, then either destemmed or crushed into the traditional Yarra Yering “tea chest” 0.5-tonne open-fermenters. Depending on the variety, stalks may be added back during the fermentation stage in baskets for easy removal when there is just enough stalk tannin present. Occasionally there will be some 100% whole bunch fermenters for use as a blending component. The stainless steel lined wooden tea chest fermenters were designed by Dr Carrodus to hold just the right amount of fruit to fit into the basket press. During fermentation they are hand plunged for gentle tannin extraction, initiated naturally or sometimes with a specific cultured yeast strain. Once fermentation is complete they will be basket pressed, preferred for its gentle separation of wine from the grape skins and seeds before being transferred via gravity to barrel. Here in our underground barrel cellar the wine will complete malolactic fermentation in French oak barrels. The barrel age, size, shape and maturation time will be dependent on the variety and wine style before blending and bottling.