The 2021 DML Yarra Valley Pinot Noir offers a delicate balance of spiced strawberry and subtle almond notes, enhanced by hints of mint and light cedar oak. This light to medium-bodied wine features a fine-grained tannin structure and a subtle hazelnut flavoUr, delivering a fresh, lacy texture. Its mineral character and cool charm culminate in a pure, long finish with nuances of minty blood orange, making it an elegant expression of Yarra Valley’s terroir.
"I texted Anth D’Anna, Franco D’Anna, and Sam Middleton just now, asking which was the best DML Pinot in 2021. Mornington or Yarra? Anth says ‘Mornington’, Franco says ‘Mornington’, Sam says ‘double emoji laughing’ and then ‘probably Mornington’. I don’t have Jordan Lewis’ mobile number, so I asked him on Instagram, ‘It seems to be Mornington, though I think the Yarra will age better’. Wise words.
Strawberry, a little spice, almond, kind of pretty, with a flicker of mint and light cedar oak. It’s light to medium-bodied, delicate and lacy, a subtle hazelnut flavour, fine grained emery board tannin, very fresh, again the spiced strawberry and a minty blood orange, but pure finish of excellent length. Lovely wine with a ‘mineral’ character, and a certain cool charm." 95 Points - Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, June 2022, Drink: 2022 - 2029+
In 2018, a long term grower in who Franco and Sam had known for many years with well-established and highly sought after vineyard in the Upper Yarra Valley that was planted in 1999 allowed us to buy a small parcel of grapes planted solely to MV6. With that, the decision to make a DML Upper Yarra Valley Pinot Noir was made.
The 2021 vintage across both these standout regions was truly remarkable for cool climate varieties such as Pinot noir. The season began with a rather wet spring, providing abundant soil moisture, setting the vines up beautifully leading into the warmer part of the growing season. From December through to the start of April both regions experienced perfect ripening temperatures and well-timed rainfall, leading to one of the best vintages of the last 2 decades. The wines from 2021 are characterised by their detail, exquisite fruit purity, fresh acid and length of flavour.
Of the two wines from ’21 this is perhaps the less obvious but the most detailed. It is always the more bright fruited wine with aromas of poached strawberry, redskin, subtle spice notes and crème caramel. The palate is fine boned, elegant and persistent. The flavours are dominated by primary fruit rather than secondary complexities, but this will shift with time in bottle. It’s delicious now but will greatly benefit from a short stint in the cellar where secondary complexity and palate intensity will increase.
