YA RRA VA L L EY NEW RELEASE TASTING 2021
WELCOME TO THE YARRA VALLEY We warmly welcome you today to our cellar door to discover our new vintage release Yarra Valley range of wines. Handpicked are an award-winning multi-regional wine producer with two very different sustainably managed vineyards in the Yarra Valley. My focus is to create regionally expressive and site specific, single estate, premium wines of exceptional quality.
Our wines today are from our Collection, Single Vineyard and Numbered Series ranges. Our premium wines are crafted from the best parcels of selected blocks or single sites and treated to the highest quality oak and winemaking techniques. Our wines provide exceptional regional and varietal expression and nuances of character that will reward the most patient of you with medium-long-term cellaring.
- Peter Dillon
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YARRA VALLEY FAST FACTS
7th most listed wine region* Chardonnay is the most listed white wine varietal occupying 20% of wine lists* Chardonnay from Yarra Valley By-TheBottle is the second most listed (11.4%) only after Margaret River (15.2%)* Yarra Valley Rose is in the top 5 regions for By-The-Bottle listings (4.1%)* Yarra Valley Pinot By-The-Bottle is the 2nd most listed (14.6%) only after Tasmania (16.1%)* 54% of Yarra wine is sold in retail/ wholesale 3% online retail
*Wine Business Solutions On Premise Report 2020
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MEET THE WINEMAKERS Peter Dillon Director of Winemaking Peter is an experienced wine show judge and a 2016 Len Evans Scholar. During 10 years at Accolade Wines he gained wide experience in large-scale operations in different wine regions. Before joining Handpicked he was senior winemaker at Larry Cherubino Wines, working across regions in Western Australia. Peter brings a wealth of technical skill and management experience to the team.
Jonathon Mattick Winemaker Jonathon has a background in cooler climate regions with a Bachelor of Science from Charles Sturt University, NSW, Australia’s premier tertiary institution for Wine Science. Based at Capella Vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula, Jonathon believes in a minimal intervention approach to winemaking and that wine is made in the vineyard; if you can get that right everything else will follow from there.
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WINEMAKING PHILOSOPHY
Peter’s commitment to creating wines that tell a story about where they come from, that express the character of a region and the personality of the site upon which their grapes were grown. His speciality is teasing out the nuances of each site in our pinot noirs and chardonnays.
“Our job is to listen carefully, hear the different strands of the story and help it unfold in the glass,” says Peter.
Whilst there is no formula for winemaking, each parcel of fruit is unique and is treated as such. There are an infinite number of variables every vintage that influence our wines that must be considered.
As the current custodians of these precious places, we accept the responsibility to nurture and improve what has been entrusted to us,” explains Peter. “That’s the bedrock of our approach to winemaking.”
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Notes:
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NUMBERED SERIES
2015 Victoria No.1 Shiraz 1 0 YEAR S I N T H E M AK I N G
“A beguiling combination of rich fruit, savoury spice and earthy depth, this wine is at once powerful and refined. The palate is full-bodied, with concentrated dark berry fruits leading the charge. There are layers of black pepper, herbs and seamless French oak. The tannin is assertive, round and flawlessly fine. This is a wine of rare sophistication that will develop gracefully over the long term. “
- Peter Dillon LUC: $258.00
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WOMBAT CRE
“Planted on dramatic slopes at high elevation in the Upper Yarra Valley, hours that are ideally suited to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, pr - Peter
SINGLE VINEYARD
2017 Wombat Creek Vineyard Chardonnay “Restrained, youthful, straightforward peach and stone fruit aromas, with a hint of smokiness as well as chalk…. fruity and refined, fresh and bright and grapefruity, with a trace of sweetness and refreshing acidity to finish. Lots of drive and energy. Delicious wine.” - Huon Hooke, The Real Review 31st March 2019
“It has fabulous mouthfeel and crunchy white peach flavour throughout, the generous use of French oak standing aloof from the other Handpicked wines. Its length and tenacity are exceptional.” – James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion 1st August 2019
LUC: $40.85
Notes:
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EEK VINEYARD
Wombat Creek Vineyard has cool, extended seasons and high sunshine roducing wines of great elegance, power, purity and length.” Dillon
SINGLE VINEYARD
2017 Wombat Creek Vineyard Pinot Noir “Smoky and sweet-cherry scented aroma, translating perfectly to the deliciously succulent palate. The tannins are light and fine-grained, giving it a smooth as silk texture. Superb wine. A gorgeous drink right now, and promises to remain so for several years.” - Huon Hooke, The Real Review 12th March 2019
“100% MV6 clone, attesting to the age of the vineyard when MV6 was clearly the best available, and has retained that status in most regions. Don’t be deceived by the apparent lack of depth to the colour; this wine has all the drive of the ‘17 vintage, and more elegance than most.” - James Halliday, James Halliday Companion 1st August 2019
LUC: $53.74
Notes:
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HIGHBOW HILL “VINE 2017 YARRA VALL
Situated in the ‘green wedge’ zone and protected by local and state laws, th Highbow Hill is diverse in soils and varietals a
SINGLE VINEYARD
2017 Highbow Hill Vineyard Chardonnay
“This is mid-weight and tightly furled, with flinty mineral crunch welded to classy oak, proving the structural enforcement. A workout in the glass reveals some stone fruit and leesy accents, but it is the kinetic energy and palate-staining length suggesting a very bright further for this cuvée.” - Ned Goodwin, James Halliday Companion 1st August 2020
LUC: $40.85
Notes:
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EYARD OF THE YEAR” LEY WINE SHOW
he area is of outstanding natural beauty with important environmental value. and is a source of innovation for Handpicked.
SINGLE VINEYARD
2017 Highbow Hill Vineyard Pinot Noir
“Select blocks of pinot noir from our Yarra Glen vineyard give this wine its deep fruit flavours, fine tannin and a silky-smooth palate.” - Peter Dillon
“Beaming vivid aromas of strawberry, mulch, Asian spice, red and black cherry and sarsaparilla. Loads of flavour. Rich… well massaged tannins across grape, stem and oak, corralling it all into a sheath of sapid intensity and full barrelled length. Very good.” - Ned Goodwin, James Halliday Companion 1st August 2020
LUC: $53.74
Notes:
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SINGLE VINEYARD
2018 Highbow Hill Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon
“A classic Yarra Valley Cabernet Sauvignon – medium weight with intense fruit flavours across the spectrum of red and black berries. This wine has a captivating nose of blackberry, cassis and black cherry with vanilla oak. The palate is medium weight with concentrated fruit, fine tannin and leafy freshness.” - Peter Dillon
LUC: $75.25
Notes:
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SUSTAINABLE WINEMAKING STARTS IN THE VINEYARD
“We strive to make great wine, now and into the future. We intensively manage each block and each vine, seeking every possible quality gain. As we approach greatness, we think again, and consider the next step.” - Senior Viticulturalist, Andrew Butler Peter and the team’s ethos is to tread lightly in the vineyards and respect the land given to us. We are on a continual journey of quality improvement in our wines, with the process starting in the vines and nurturing of the land. This is achieved via organic practices including flora and fauna biodiversity encouragement, organic matter management, soil improvements, integrated pest management and water efficiency solutions. Organic conversion is underway in all of Handpicked’s vineyards, with completion expected nationally by 2024.
Cover crops improve soil health by adding nutrients and nitrogen to the soil
Our soil management program includes biodynamic preparations, deep ripping, under vine cultivation and herbicide elimination
Organic conversion means happier vines, cleaner air and water, greater biodiversity and better wines
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COLLECTION
2017 Yarra Valley Chardonnay “A blend of clones from our vineyards in Yarra Glen and Gladysdale, this wine has the classic Chardonnay appeal of stone fruit and citrus with a clean finish. Barrel fermentation and maturation adds spicy oak and texture. “ - Peter Dillon
LUC: $29.03
Notes:
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COLLECTION
COLLECTION
2017 Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
2015 Yarra Valley
“A classic Yarra Valley Pinot Noir with
“In true Yarra Valley style, this is
signature herbal and savoury notes
an elegant and medium weight
alongside bright berry fruits. The
Cabernet with aromas of briar berries
palate has excellent weight and fine
and lifted herbal notes. The palate
tannin. From our vineyards at Yarra
has bright berry fruits, hints of dried
Glen and Gladysdale.”
herbs and powdery tannins.”
- Peter Dillon
- Peter Dillon
Cabernet Sauvignon
“Very elegant, light-bodied, gently spicy red berry fruits, cherry/ strawberry, good length and balance. Simply relax with a glass in hand and you’ll enjoy it more and more.” - James Halliday, James Halliday Companion 1st August 2019
LUC: $34.40
LUC: $43.00
Notes:
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Handpicked has a track record of excellence and consistently high wine ratings and is rated in the top 4% of wineries in Australia*.
Our achievements to date:
20 Trophies 54+ Gold Medals 66+ Wines Rated Over 95 By International Wine Critics
“Outstanding winery, regularly producing wines of exemplary quality and typicity – truly the best of the best” James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2021
Top 40 wineries in Australia Huon Hooke’s The Real Review Top Wineries of Australia 2021 *James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2021
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