By Farr Pinot Noir "Farrside" 2018

Farrside is the darkest, most structured of the single-vineyard Pinot Noirs from By Farr, the Geelong estate of Gary Farr and his son Nick. Gary was the first winemaker at Bannockburn and has made regular vintages at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy, and Len Evans once called his wine “Australia’s best Pinot”. The family was named The Real Review’s Australian Winery of the Year in 2025. The Farrside vineyard was planted in 2001 to a mix of clones on black volcanic soil over limestone, richer than the estate’s other Pinot blocks, and it is usually about two weeks later to harvest. The wine is made with a high proportion of whole clusters, in some years 50 to 60%, and with native yeasts, which gives it a stemmy, spicy character.

The result is a Pinot with more masculinity, structure and savoury character than its siblings, firm yet delicate. A balanced array of red and black fruit, black cherry, red plum and raspberry, sits with black tea, rose, baking spice and forest floor, and then deep meaty, mineral and spicy flavours evolve, with edgy minerality, silky tannins and a long, textured finish. Nick Farr describes it as texturally generous, a counterpoint to the tight, edgy flavours of spice and pepper.