Description
Shaun Crinion has been making some of the Yarra Valley's best value wines since founding Dappled in 2009. His pedigree is serious, with time at Williams Selyem in California and Domaine de Montille in Burgundy shaping an approach built around minimal intervention and generosity of both flavour and value. His mission, in his own words: "make high quality unadulterated wines from special patches of dirt at realistic prices."
The Gladysdale lieu-dit is the single-vineyard expression in the range. "Lieu-dit" is a Burgundian concept for a named place, and it signals exactly what this wine is about: one site, no blending, terroir first. Gladysdale sits in the upper Yarra, and the cool conditions there give the fruit a finesse and delicacy that sets it apart from warmer valley floor Pinots.
The 2025 was warm and dry but with a long, cool finish to ripening, giving good concentration without losing freshness. The winemaking is careful and hands-on: five-day cold soak, 30% whole bunch with 70% whole berry, three weeks on skins with daily hand plunging and some foot stomping, then pressed to French oak (10% new) for 10 months on lees. Gravity bottled, unfined and unfiltered.
The result is a refined, detailed Pinot, light and elegant rather than big, with good fruit character, some whole-bunch spice and structure, and a clean, fresh finish. It's an absolutely gorgeous Pinot and another feather in Crinion's feather-full cap.
95 points
"I’d say that this is in impeccably good form – but it’s better than that. In Pinot Noir terms there is no better way to spend $50 this year... It’s a gem of a wine and more."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)
| Price Bracket | $41 to $50 |
| Type | Red |
| Body | Light Bodied |
| Variety | Pinot Noir |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Yarra Valley |
| Australian State | VIC |
| Reviewed By |
The Wine Front |
| Critic Score |
95 |
| Alcohol | 13.5% |
| Size | 750ml |
| Vintage | 2025 |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
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Common Questions
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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.
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Put simply: the box discount is already baked into the price.
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