Product Info:
An ethereal Pinot. Herbal and ashen, with smoky reduction notes and a hint of tobacco. Good structure and flow, mineral and nervy, with red berries and a dark cherry core.
The climate at Irrewarra vineyards are distinct from the older sites in the By Farr range, with higher rainfall and free-draining soils. This results in a cooler style By Farr, showing great fruit expression with a deceptively long and mineral palate. There's plenty of sweet and sour cherries, earth, spice and a lovely elegant structure.
The Irrewarra label is made by the By Farr folk from a vineyard, planted in 2001 and lovingly tended dry grown by the Calvert family in nearby Colac. The climate at Irrewarra vineyards are distinct from the older sites in the By Farr range, with higher rainfall and free-draining soils. This results in a cooler style By Farr, showing great fruit expression with a deceptively long and mineral palate. There's plenty of sweet and sour cherries, earth, spice and a lovely elegant structure.
Maker:
By Farr is the brand of the Farr Family, started in 1994 by Robyn and Gary on a north facing slope in the township of Bannockburn in the Moorabool Valley. The Original wines where Chardonnay by Farr, Viognier by Farr, Shiraz by Farr and Pinot Noir by Farr now known as Sangreal by Farr. Overtime with the help of Cassie and Nick the vineyards have expand to adjoining neighbouring properties and eventually greater expression of the single site wines that we have today because of the pieces of dirt that we love to farm. The wines of By Farr are built around complexity, layered structure and undeniable length that places them in the highest regard by both consumers for their drinkability and age worthiness or critics around the world for their individuality.
Vineyard:
The Irrewarra Vineyard site has now been in the hands of the Farr family and team for 12 years. The vineyard was planted by the Calvert family in 2001 to a mixture of clones on own roots. It is predominantly pinot noir with 6 acres and accompanied by 2 acres of chardonnay. The vineyard sits at the top of the slope facing large water reserves ‘Salt Lake’ and the ‘Calvert Lough’ to the north. It generally takes 10 years for a new planting to bed down there roots and show consistent characteristics. Well it has also taken 10 years to truly unlock the potential of the Western District site. With the support of owners John and Browynn Calvert, the soil management and vine health give wines of unique cool climate viticulture. They are a cooler expression By Farr.
Vintage occurs during April after quite a long growing season. The vineyard is located in the heart of the Western District Farming country, approximately 150 kilometers south-west of Melbourne. Think dairy, beef, sheep, wheat, hay and forestry production. Irrewarra is surrounded by in land lakes and volcanic plains. It is a diverse and beautiful landscape that relies on a high amount of natural rainfall throughout the year. The Western plains are quite exposed to the elements which contributes to the vineyard sites mystic. The soils across the slope of the site are a mixture of grey sandy clay loams at the south end to dark brown loams with fragments of buckshot and quartz gravels towards the north. All with underlying brown to yellow clays. Overall the soils remain very moist throughout the year because of the clay based soil profile and annual rainfall of 885mm, resulting in the very attractive damp earthiness character in the fruit and wine.
Nose - Red Cherries, Cinnamon Spice, Musk
Fruit driven with lovely fresh cherry and floral aromas, spicy, bright and lifted.
Palate - Silky, Bright, Sweet and Sour Cherries
Lovely tension, darker cherries fruit flavours, some earthy rusticity.
Finish - Mineral, Structured, Earthy
Beautifully balanced finish that's gentle and fine in its tannins, cool minerality in the finish.
(2021) This is a cool style. It’s herbal and ashen, peppery and tonic-like, with reductive aspects hovering about, along with tobacco. It has excellent form, very good flow, an inherent tension, and enough dark cherried/undergrowthy fruit flavour to make it all work. I’d put this aside for a year or two but in time this will come together very nicely. It has class. It has interest. It has length. - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, 94 Points.
(2019) Deep red colour with a good tint of purple and an array of lovely fresh cherry and floral aromas, spicy, bright and lifted, the fruit doing all the talking, while the palate is intense and focused, driving long to a beautifully balanced finish that's gentle and fine in its tannins, drinking superbly right now. A most impressive Irrewarra and a delicious pinot. - Huon Hooke, The Real Review, 94 Points.
The Finer Details
Style - Red Wine
Varietal - Pinot Noir
Country - Australia
Region - Geelong, Victoria
Vintage - 2022
Bottle Size - 750ml
ABV - 13.5%
