2021 Yarra Yering Dry Red No 1

100 POINTS

Tyson Stelzer

The unique ability of cabernet sauvignon to unite the contrasts of perfumed lightness with deep concentration, grace with structure and elegance with enduring longevity is unparalleled in the wine world. Its finest expressions are at once emphatically fragrant and lighter than air and yet deeper, more concentrated, more enduring and more structured. No Australian wine of the modern era exemplifies this profound juxtaposition more emphatically than Yarra Yering Dry Red Wine No 1 2021. I anointed the 2019 vintage Wine of the Year in my inaugural year of editing the Halliday Wine Companion and personally scored it 99 points. The 2021 is unequivocally an even greater wine, with a line and length on an altogether different level. Is this the perfect cabernet blend? It's been nine years since I've rated an Australian table wine 100 points (Grange 2010) and it's time again.100 points. Drink 2031 - 2071.

98 POINTS

Philip Rich - Halliday's Wine Companion

A blend of 60/24/11/5% cabernet sauvignon/merlot/malbec/petit verdot, the cabernet coming from the original 1969-planted vineyard. Matured in French oak (40% new). A deep, bright crimson purple. Bordeaux-like with its aromas of cassis, iodine, bay leaf and some olive tapenade. The oak is already well integrated. Powerful and balanced with lots of layers. Ripe, chewy tannins course through the wine's concentrated fruit, yet the overall impression is one of balance and harmony. A serious and complete cabernet.

98 POINTS

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

Deep, bright purple-red colour with a bouquet of cassis, mulberry, blackberry and some hints of peat-moss, nori and dried herbs. In the mouth, it’s finely tuned and tensioned, elegantly weighted and structured with intensity and drive, the tannins fine grained and perfectly matched to the flavour. Long, long carry. It drinks superbly now but leave it alone for a few years and watch it grow and build more detail. Very stylish wine.

97 POINTS

Decanter World Wine Awards

Vivid and vibrant blackcurrant, cedar and tobacco, with a savoury note of graphite and a fine mesh of sandy tannins on the palate. Tense and tightly structured, with a dazzling acidity and a persistent youthful finish.

96 POINTS

James Suckling - Wine Spectator

A great Bordeaux blend. Among the finest of the New World. The proviso, of course, is that one must appreciate levity, a noble astringency and a glimpse of cabernet's verdant underbelly The pencil lead tannins are detailed and thoroughly convincing. Cassis, tobacco leaf, spearmint and graphite. A fine, gravely finish, if not a bit drying and austere. Age should sort this out. Best from 2026. This will go a long way.