2021 By Farr, `RP` Geelong Pinot Noir - Liberty

Based in Geelong, around 80 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, Gary Farr and his son Nick make small quantities of single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that rank among Australia’s best. Nick explains, “The wines we make are not mainstream—they are expressions of our vineyard, our land and what we like to drink.”

Gary has a wealth of winemaking experience in the region, having made wine in the Moorabool Valley since 1978. In the decades since, he has developed an encyclopaedic understanding of Geelong’s topography, leading to the purchase of the site that would become By Farr in 1994. In the meantime, Gary gained considerable experience in Burgundy, undertaking 10 vintages at Domaine Dujac, which influenced his meticulous use of whole-bunch fermentation in his own winemaking. His son Nick, who similarly honed his craft at Domaine Dujac, as well as Au Bon Climat in California, later joined him. Nick has carved out a stellar reputation of his own and was named Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine in 2020.

By Farr’s Chardonnays reflect the care they take in making balanced, elegant wines. The Geelong Chardonnay hails from the ‘Sangreal’ vineyard, first planted in 1994. The ‘GC’ Chardonnay is from the densely planted ‘Côte’ vineyard (7,000 vines per hectare), where a diversity of aspects and soil types (including a mixture of loam, limestone and black volcanic soils) provide a range of different blending components. In the cellar, whole-bunch pressing, natural, cool fermentation and judicious use of oak provide elegance and complexity. The Viognier hails from a blend of fruit across two vineyard sites, with time spent on skins and barrel fermentation creating a rich, perfumed wine.

The Shiraz is co-fermented with a small percentage of Viognier for added depth on the nose and palate. All the fruit for the Pinot Noirs is hand-picked, with a high percentage of whole-bunch fermentation to lift the aromas and give a lovely grainy tannin structure on the palate. The ‘Sangreal’ vineyard’s red soil over limestone is unique in the estate, and this site is home to Pinot Noir vines that the Farrs believe have mutated since they were planted 20 years ago, adapting to their own microclimate.

Although just 300 metres from ‘Sangreal’, the differing conditions of the ‘Farrside’ vineyard mean that it is harvested 10 to 12 days later. The rows of vines at ‘Farrside’ run east to west to shade the fruit from overexposure. The clones are a mixture of the Bernard clones from Dijon (114, 115, 777 and 667) and Australia’s own MV6. The soils at ‘Farrside’ and ‘Tout Près’ are primarily black volcanic with heavy amounts of limestone on the surface. ‘Tout Près’ is a densely planted hillside site (7,300 vines per hectare) and produces the most intense of the four Pinot Noirs. Due to its density and low yields, ‘Tout Près’ is also three times more expensive to farm than ‘Sangreal’. The ‘RP’ Pinot Noir is a tribute to Gary’s wife and Nick’s mum, Robyn Pamela. It is a beautifully perfumed wine, made with fruit sourced from the ‘Côte’ Vineyard. The ‘Tout Près’ and ‘Sangreal’ Pinot Noirs are fermented in wood and aged in Allier oak barrels, while ‘Farrside’ and ‘RP’ are vinified in stainless steel before ageing in wood. The ‘Barbarian’ is from a small parcel of Pinot Noir that Nick planted in 2015 with inheritance from his great aunt Pamela Brinsmead. In 1975, at the age of 51, ‘Aunty’ Pam was a member of the first all-women’s crew to sail in the ‘Sydney to Hobart’ Yacht Race, aboard the yacht ‘Barbarian’. The site of the Barbarian Pinot is a rockier outcrop of the soil type found in neighbouring Sangreal. The block is terraced, close-planted and is oriented oppositely to Sangreal with east-west rows.

The fruit for this wine is sourced from densely planted Pinot Noir vines in the exposed Côte Vineyard. These hillsides facing North, North East and East will be the backbone of the Farr dynasty for decades to come. The North côte is reddish brown loam with buckshot stones across the surface. The most exposed of the three côtes, it is harvested last because of the large amount of clay, holding valuable moisture for longer than the other slopes. The North East côte is a continuation of buckshot until the soil becomes black and lined with limestone moving towards the bottom of the rows and a depression that divides limestone from sandstone. At the highest point of the vineyard, there are small amounts of sandstone in the grey sandy loam. The East côte is divided through the centre of the slope by a rise. Black volcanic soil with fragmented limestone in one direction and grey loam with buckshot stones in the other direction. As the East côte has the least amount of clay and tends to retain less water, it is harvested first, even though it is the coolest of the sites.

The 2021 vintage was extremely challenging but equally rewarding. Persistent rainfall and humidity created challenges in the vineyards throughout the growing season, but these challenges were met with even more persistent and determined vineyard management. Great care was taken to keep canopies open and clean of disease. The season ended with excellent temperatures and sunlight which sustained the natural acidity and flavour of the grapes. Picking began on 9th March.

The fruit was hand picked and sorted in the vineyard, with between 40 - 50% of the fruit being destemmed and cold soaked for four days. Only natural yeast was used during fermentation, which lasted around 19 days. Pigéage was carried out two to three times a day before the wine was placed in 50 - 60% new Allier barrels by gravity. Racked by gas after secondary fermentation, the wine was aged for 18 months before a final racking prior to bottling.