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2017 By Farr R.P Pinot Noir

Geelong, VIC

The finest and most ethereal of the exemplary 2017 By Farr Pinot Noirs.

HIGH SCORE

$112.00

About
This is one of the great pinots we have made...

Nick Farr, winemaker

About The Wine

The RP Pinot Noir is a tribute wine to Robyn Pamela Farr, the matriarch of the Farr family, for her tireless work over the 40+ years of building this great Australian wine dynasty.

The fruit comes from an exposed site on the Côte vineyard planted by Gary. The family says these sites, with the perfect clones, perfect aspect, and perfect viticultural techniques at play, will form the backbone of the family's wine production for generations to come.

It's a more ethereal expression of Pinot Noir than the muscular Tout Pres, but in terms of quality, you'd be splitting hairs to separate them.

This is a magnificent Pinot Noir which represents a lifetime in the pursuit of excellence from Gary Farr.

About By Farr / Farr Rising

Gary Farr is one of the most iconic winemakers in Victoria, or indeed, the country. He was responsible for taking Bannockburn in Geelong to the startling heights it reached as one of the benchmark producers of Burgundian varieties in the country. His own label, By Farr, is quite simply one of Australia's finest producers.

The Farr vineyards are based in the Moorabool Valley in Geelong, with a wide array of ancient soils resulting in small yields of incredibly intensely flavoured Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Shiraz and Viognier. With Gary's son Nick now making the wines, as well as taking his own Farr Rising label to monumental heights, this is a project set to dominate Geelong wine for years to come.

If you want to see one of the country's great winemaking families at work, anything by the Farrs will be one of the best examples of its kind in the country. Sheer class, guaranteed.

Two generations of Farrs - winemakers Nick and Gary
Two generations of Farrs - winemakers Nick and Gary
Geelong, VIC
Additional Info

From The Producer

Vineyard
The RP Pinot Noir (RP – Robyn Pamela) is in recognition of the matriarch. It is not only the support and goffering that Robyn has endured for Gary’s 40 year career. She has been in the vineyard and planted the first vines, driven the tractors, filled barrels and pigeaged at midnight. If we are ever a man down Robyn has always been the first one we have called to fill the void no matter the job, no matter the time of day. You can always count on mum.

The fruit for this wine is sourced from the Cote Vineyard as is the GC Chardonnay. A close planted / high density planting of Pinot Noir on a exposed cote. These hillsides facing North, North East and East will be the backbone of the Farr dynasty for decades to come.

They consist of the most suitable clones, rootstocks, trellising and management you fill find for our landscape. This is our tribute to what ‘Gazza’ has achieved and provoked over 40 years not only in our region but for chardonnay and pinot noir of Australia.

The North cote is a red to brown loam with buckshot stones across the surface. The most exposed of the three cotes but is harvested last of all because of the large amount of clay, holding valuable moisture for a long longer time than the other slopes.

The North East cote is a continuation of buckshot until the soil becomes black and lined with limestone moving towards the bottom of the rows and a depression that divides limestone from sandstone. At the highest point of the vineyard you will find small amounts of sandstone in the grey sandy loam.

The East cote is divided through the center of the slope by a rise. Black volcanic soil with fragmented limestone in one direction and grey loam with buckshot stones in the other direction. Soil is King as the East cote has the least amount of clay and therefore water holding capacity resulting in it being harvest first even though it is the coolest cote of the three.

Vinification
The fruit is hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard, then fermented in an open-top fermenter. Between 40 to 50 per cent of the fruit will be stemmed and then cold soaked for four days. We use only the natural yeast for the fermentation process, which takes roughly 19 days. Grape-stomping (known as pigeage) will occur two to three times a day depending on the amount of extraction required, and the wine is then placed in 50 to 60 per cent new Allier barrels by gravity. It is racked by gas after secondary fermentation, then again at 18 months to be bottled.

Blend : Pinot Noir (100%)
ABV : 13.50%
Closure : Cork
Drink Until : 2030
Bottle Size : 750ml

The future of By Farr - next-gen winemaker Nick Farr
The future of By Farr - next-gen winemaker Nick Farr
Geelong, VIC
Expert Reviews

Critic Reviews

DDS review

"A bouquet of absolute intrigue and under growth from an extremely fresh and high natural acidity vintage. The elegant yet savoury power that we are growing to love from the Cote Vineyard wines is showing once again from both the pinot and the GC Chardonnay. The palate is lengthy and layered. It is a pinot that keeps giving with every minute in the glass. This is one of the great pinots we have made, with fantastic ageing potential. RP, Real Pinot, Serious Pinot Noir." - Nick Farr

96Points
Halliday Wine Companion

"There's a bit of extra brood and scaffold here. It's a stern, spicy, tannic pinot with beetroot and earth flavours folded into black cherry and red plum. Its acidity comes laden with spice, its tannin flecked with dry leaves, its fruit notes rise as if from the ground. It's not overdone but oak has added cushions to the texture. How's it sounding? Its quality is right up there." - Campbell Mattinson (Halliday Wine Companion)

Delivery

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FaQs

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