2023 Mac Forbes Yarra Valley Pinot Noir

Outstanding value Pinot Noir from one of the Yarra Valley's most loved small producers.
4.5
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
20 Reviews

Price:
Sale price$38.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Mac Forbes is passionate about Pinot Noir, and his 'Yarra Valley' release is the perfect way to get to know his unique style.

It comes from declassified portions of Mac's six single vineyard Pinots, taking on characters of each to present a beautifully balanced wine that reflects what quality Yarra Pinot is all about.

This gives the drinker an immediate insight into Mac Forbes' ethos. He stands for quality, and this characterful Pinot is sensational value.

94 points
"What a delight. This wine really delivers the goods. It’s pure Pinot Noir."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

The Yarra Valley label is the entry into our Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wines. ‘Yarra Valley’ is a blend of declassified barrels from our grower vineyards and the Mac Forbes single vineyard sites. They represent a snapshot from across the valley and our vineyards. Generally, they can be enjoyed young but cellaring will reward with increased complexity.

TASTING NOTE

Displaying a medium dark cherry hue with a brilliant edge, while the nose presents an abundance of nuanced red dark fruits. Subtle spice, hints of carbonic red fruits,
and mineral stones add complexity, making it highly enticing. On the palate, there's an interplay of gravelly tannins with notes of red candy fruit, dark fresh cherries, and savoury structure, complemented by fine chalky tannins and wonderful length, leaving you thirsty in a very good way.

We recommend serving this wine between 14-16 degrees.

VINTAGE CONDITIONS

A challenging season with extreme rainfall during winter and spring. Poor flowering conditions has meant another year of reduced yields, but depth and concentration of flavour are all the better for it. Long slow ripening over the summer gave us a late start to the harvest, with wonderful fruit detail and depth. Quite a revelation from such a challenging season.

VINEYARD

The Yarra Valley Pinot is a blend of fruit from grower vineyards and properties that we farm across both the upper Yarra and the Valley floor.

WINEMAKING

Fruit: 15% whole bunches, 20% destemmed and foot stomped

Fermentation: 18-21 days on skins in open fermenters and wood

Maturation: 11 months in old large and small format oak

Yeast: Wild

Fining: None

Filtration: None

93 points, "A blend of eight vineyards. Whole bunches (20%) matured in seasoned barriques and some puncheons. A light, bright crimson. Redolent of red cherries, blood oranges and spice. The palate is youthful and brightly fruited, with discreet yet crunchy tannins adding subtle grip." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

94 points - "Beautiful floral rosy/violet perfume, leaps out of the glass. Red fruit, red cherry, a good amount of flavour, fine acidity, light soft chew to crushed rock tannin, lively on the finish and long too. What a delight. This wine really delivers the goods. It’s pure Pinot Noir." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Customer Reviews

4.5
Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars
Based on 20 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 13 Total 4 star reviews: 4 Total 3 star reviews: 2 Total 2 star reviews: 1 Total 1 star reviews: 0
20 reviews
  • JH
    John H.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    1 year ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Fun little Pinot

    Great value for this beautiful little Pinot. Not many other Pinots better than this at the price. I can only think of 1 and that’s because I get a discount.

  • JC
    john c.
    Verified Buyer
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    2 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Enthusiast
    Rated 3 out of 5 stars
    Mr. John Cahill

    This is a light style Pinot as are previous vintages.

    Many Pinot afficianados will not like it.

    Its a good summer lunchtime wine.

    Young at the moment.

    Another 12 months in the bottle and it might be better.

  • C
    Chris
    Verified Reviewer
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    2 years ago
    Wine Knowledge Level Cork Dork
    Rated 2 out of 5 stars
    Pleasent yet bland

    Fruit bomb with little savoury flavour, light-bodied, some tannic structure but overall lacking, good length but would benefit from more colour and flavour extraction.

Reviews LoadedReviews Added

Mac Forbes

If you love premium and artisanal Australian wine, Mac Forbes is a name you need to know. He’s not only one of the country’s most talented winemakers, but he’s one of the most influential spokesmen for promoting the concept of Australian ‘terroir’, believing that wine should represent a time and a place.

Mac specialises in single vineyard Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Syrah and Cabernet from the Yarra Valley. His wines are delicate and finely etched, characterised by subtlety and grace.

His Pinot Noirs are fine-boned, the Chardonnays are adored by lovers of fruit purity rather than winemaking artifice, and his array of off-dry Rieslings from the Strathbogie Ranges are among the country's most interesting. Additionally, his ever-expanding range of experimental wines is a treasure trove for the curious drinker.

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message