Wine: Yering Station Yarra Valley

The idea that a vine can take minerals into its system and into the grapes is wrong.

If nothing else, the word terroir is now more frequently spelt correctly and no longer excites the attention of subeditors unfamiliar with the etymology of all things vinous.

Whether the concept could be scientifically proved is another matter.

The difficulty in linking great terroir to great wine has been particularly acute. The idea that a vine can take minerals into its system and into the grapes is wrong. Yet there are patches of soil that produce fruit (and hence wine) that is demonstrably superior to that on superficially similar soil 10 metres or 100 metres away.

I’ll backtrack for a moment into the classic definition of terroir. It is the coming together of the climate, the soil and the landscape. It is the combination of an infinite number of factors:

night and day temperatures, rainfall distribution, hours of sunlight, slope and drainage, prevailing winds and aspect. All these things are visible and measurable. But how do you measure what is happening below the surface? The answer lies in precision viticulture, a methodology unheard of outside boffin think tanks, PhD studies and the like 20 years ago. I wrote of Wynns Coonawarra’s use of the system last August; this time it’s Yering Station in the Yarra Valley. It has made extensive use of precision viticulture via GPS, geographical information systems and airborne imagery.

Yering Station winemaker Willy Lunn ups the ante when he explains the same soil profile may be perfect for shiraz but undesirable for pinot noir:

the former requiring low-vigour, shallow soils that make the vines work harder; the latter preferring more vigorous soils. Yering Station uses different approaches (irrigation, nutrients) to finesse vine vigour. Even within a 1ha block the variation can be stark; what Lunn calls “the sweet spots”. He takes it further when he says: “I cannot wait for the day we are picking individually tagged vines.”

2013 YERING STATION RESERVE YARRA VALLEY SHIRAZ VIOGNIER

The colour is deep and bright; the bouquet exotic and compelling; the multilayered, medium to full-bodied palate lifts the bar further. Plum, black cherry, spice and cracked pepper join ripe tannins, all in seamless balance. Sourced mainly from the sweet spots on Carrs Vineyard. 14% alc, screw cap

98 points, drink to 2043, $120

2013 YERING STATION YARRA VALLEY SHIRAZ VIOGNIER

Bright hue; red cherries and spices play tip and run on the expressive, inviting bouquet; the palate texture a mix of silk and taffeta, the juicy, gently spiced red fruit flavours a sheer delight. First-class now or later style. High quality but not in the same class as the Reserve. 13.8% alc, screw cap

95 points, drink to 2033, $40

2013 YERING STATION YARRA VALLEY CABERNET SAUVIGNON

Open-fermented, 80% with 21 days on skins, 20% for 42 days (fermentation 21 days), matured in French oak (25% new) for 18 months. This bold approach moves the wine left of centre of the usual Yarra Valley elegance, but makes up for that through its intensity. 14.3% alc, screw cap

94 points, drink to 2028, $40