Innocent Bystander Syrah 2021 (Yarra Valley)

Winemaking Notes
The Innocent Bystander Syrah 2021 is crafted from predominantly hand-picked fruit from both upper and lower Yarra Valley vineyards, showcasing the diversity and complexity of flavours and aromas that the combination of cool mountainside vineyards and warmer valley floor sites provides. The winemaking approach includes a cold soak for three days followed by seven days on skins, with 10% whole bunches used to bring the perfume that defines this subtly perfumed and tantalisingly spicy wine. The wine is matured for 10 months in French oak, 10% of which was new, with natural malolactic fermentation occurring, resulting in a smooth and sophisticated expression that is generous in fruit but restrained in oak. This careful balance between the generous fruit character and restrained oak influence ensures the wine displays beautiful integration between fruit intensity and structural elegance, with the cool hillsides of the Yarra Valley providing the perfect conditions for making this intriguing style. The winemaking philosophy at Innocent Bystander of not overworking their wines and treating them gently to ensure their bright fruit characters shine through on a long, smooth palate is evident in this wine, which is made to be savoured with its long and satisfying finish.

Vintage Conditions
The 2021 vintage in the Yarra Valley provided excellent conditions for Syrah production, with a warm bud burst instigating great canopies and fruit set that laid the foundation for quality fruit development. January was very wet leading into a dry February and March, and this provided great colour and balance in the grapes, allowing the fruit from both upper and lower Yarra Valley vineyards to develop the generous fruit character and tantalising spice that define this wine. The combination of the warm bud burst encouraging strong canopy development and the wet January followed by dry February and March created ideal conditions for the grapes to ripen whilst maintaining the cool-climate character that makes Yarra Valley Syrah so distinctive. The 2021 vintage conditions, combined with the predominantly hand-picked fruit from both upper and lower Yarra Valley vineyards, result in a wine that showcases the region's reputation for producing exceptional cool-climate wines, with the deep ruby colour with purple hues reflecting the great colour achieved during the vintage. The Yarra Valley is Innocent Bystander's home and where it all began, with the soils, climate, and combination of cool mountainside vineyards and warmer valley floor sites providing the diversity and complexity that make their Yarra Valley wines so spectacular, and the 2021 Syrah is a perfect example of this terroir-driven approach.