95 points - "From two vineyards less than 1km away from one another in Gruyere on the Yarra Valley floor. One-third whole bunches and 10% new oak. A light, bright ruby red. Gently perfumed with aromas of crushed raspberry, cherry, flowers and spice. On the palate it feels like a tightly coiled spring that I have no doubt will slowly unfurl to become more complex and silkier over the next, say, two to six years. Another thoughtful, well-crafted wine from Tillie J." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

92+ points - "Strawberry, raspberry, quite a sappy and crunchy thing, with a smoky herbal top note, though also has some dried flower perfume. It’s light and crisp, peppery tannin, red capsicum and red fruits, a lively and energetic expression of Pinot Noir, some blood orange and amaro tang, with a bright and frisky finish of good length. Almost Italianate in a way, very much like a peppery Pelaverga, so I like that aspect of it very much. There’s a certain frisson here that landing on the cusp of ripeness delivers. It’s a marginal wine, though there’s beauty in that. Bony, but perfumed. I like it. Give it a year or two, perhaps." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

The parcels of fruit for this wine were sourced from 2 vineyards less than one kilometre away from one another in Gruyere on the Yarra Valley floor. Both are MV6 clones from north west facing slopes on grey loam soils.

I farm and manage one site, practicing sustainable viticulture techniques from gentle pruning methods, integrated pest management with the use of beneficial insect species and alternative undervine cultivation techniques to avoid herbicide use.

Once in the winery, two thirds of the fruit was destemmed and one third left as whole bunches. Both batches were fermented separately in small open top stainless steel fermenters for primary fermentation. They were inoculated with a Pinot Noir specific yeast strain and the whole bunch portion was sealed and left to begin fermentation carbonicaly for approximately 3 days. The ferment was then gently foot stopped to release more juice to encourage fermentation. Both batches were gently plunged twice daily for gentle extraction.

The wine was then pressed and barreled down to French oak barriques of which approximately 10% is new oak. There it completed secondary fermentation and further maturation for 9 months before blending, filtration and bottling. This wine is also vegan.

A bouquet of fleshy ripe plums and fresh raspberries, layered with savory hints of charcuterie and freshly cracked black pepper.

Elegant yet plush on the palate with notes of juicy wild strawberries, violets, black tea and hint of toasty oak spice on the finish.