Winery of the Year
YARRA YERING | YARRA VALLEY | VICTORIA
THE SIMILARITIES between Dr Bailey Carrodus and winemaker Sarah Crowe are not insignificant – they’re the kind that make you think a lot about destiny. Whether by fate or design, Sarah’s past eight years at Yarra Yering are a case of being in the right place at the right time. After being crowned the 2017 Winemaker of the Year, she now leads the team to the first-ever dual victory with the award for both Winery and Wine of the Year.
More than 60 years ago, botanist Dr Bailey Carrodus set out to find the perfect piece of land for a vineyard. After searching high and low, he settled on a property nestled into the landscape of Victoria’s undulating and relentlessly green Yarra Valley. Bailey planted cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, later adding malbec, merlot, cabernet franc, pinot noir and viognier, and in 1973, produced the region’s first commercial wine in 50 years. His wines quickly gained an international reputation for excellence, headed by his Yarra Yering Dry Red Wine No. 1, a Bordeaux-style blend comprised primarily of cabernet sauvignon with elements of merlot, malbec and petit verdot.
“When people talk about him, they use words like ‘visionary’,” says Sarah, who is also general manager at Yarra Yering. “They say he was ahead of his time and didn’t suffer fools. He had a style of wine he wanted to make, and if people criticised him, he just kept going. He was committed to what he wanted to achieve.”
When Bailey passed away in 2008 at age 78, Sarah says a lot of his loyal followers fell out of engagement with the Yarra Yering brand. At that same time – halfway across the world in France’s Rhône Valley – Sarah was fresh from leaving a career in horticulture to pursue wine. “My job was to sell and recommend plants for domestic gardeners and I had this idea that maybe I could work in vineyards instead,” she says. “I went into wineries to help out with harvest, ended up falling in love with the winemaking process and never looked back.”
By 2004, Sarah was assistant winemaker at the Hunter Valley’s Brokenwood, overseeing the importation of fruit from the coolerclimate region of Beechworth in Victoria. Sarah’s affinity for Victorian viticulture is the reason she moved to the Yarra Valley in
2013, where she took on the winemaker role at Yarra Yering.
“What I love most is the energy in the wines,” she says. “We’re a cool-climate region so we always have this beautiful acid retention with a drive and vibrancy.” And that Winemaker of the Year award helped re-galvanise the public’s affinity for the brand, she says.
“It was awesome for people to say ‘Yarra Yering’s doing good things, I should re-engage’ – and yeah, life’s been much busier since then.” The 2019 Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 1 is the 50th iteration of the blend first produced by Bailey Carrodus in 1969. “The 2019 vintage is a bit of a funny one because, on paper, it was a tough season and a dry year,” Sarah says. “I would have predicted the wines would have more fruit weight and be bigger, but they have that beautiful energy and vibrancy. And I don’t know for sure, but I hope it’s got a lot to do with the work we’ve been doing in the vineyard.”
In the footsteps of Bailey, Sarah has used her botany background to future-proof the vineyards through an ongoing compost program that cultivates a unique soil biology. “The healthier our vineyard soil, the healthier the vines and the less stressed they are – and the better balance in the resulting wines,” she says. “We’re only the current custodians, and if we do our job right, we will leave the property in a better condition than when we found it.”
Aside from the spectacular Dry Red No.1,
Yarra Yering’s 2019 releases have accounted for some of the highest-rated wines across all categories in this year’s Companion. The scores, consistency and excellence of the range are responsible for their second win this year – Winery of the Year. It’s an achievement Sarah says recognises the hard work of vineyard manager Andrew George and the entire team. “What we do is very physical. We work in the elements, we work outside, we work with our hands,” she says. “Dr Carrodus’ background meant he was very committed to the viticulture side of winemaking. For instance, he would have eight employees in the vineyard and one in the winery – he and I have a similar philosophy.”
And while Yarra Yering wines have an amazing reputation for longevity, Sarah says they are consciously designed to enjoy now, too. “The way we make them today means they’re much more approachable as young wines,” she says. “Historically, people always said, ‘You can’t open this wine for 20 years’, but what I’m saying is you can open this wine this year and you’ll still enjoy it.” And enjoy them you should – at Yarra Yering’s new guided tasting program. To mirror the team’s considered approach, the cellar door offers a seated experience where guests can taste the wines slowly. “In the winery and the vineyard, we try not to ever be rushed, so it’s nice to give visitors that same sense of calm,” Sarah says. “We want them to sit there for as long as they like and revisit the wines in the hope they gain a deeper connection to them.”
WHAT I LOVE MOST IS THE ENERGY IN THE WINES. WE’RE A COOL-CLIMATE REGION SO WE ALWAYS HAVE THIS BEAUTIFUL ACID RETENTION WITH A DRIVE AND VIBRANCY.
Sarah Crowe, Yarra Yering.