

By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir 2019
Style: Red Wine
Closure: Cork
By Farr Sangreal Pinot Noir 2019
Camberwell
Burke Road
Camberwell VIC 3124
Australia
Critic Score: 97
Alcohol: 13.5%
Size: 750 ml
Drink by: 2035
Description
"Tasting the latest crop of By Farr pinots, from the 2019 vintage, I felt that Gary and his son Nick, the present winemaker, have gotten closer to a great Burgundy model than ever before. Simply put, these are smashing wines. Ripeness is spot-on and concentration is outstanding. Flavours are profound and complex." Huon Hooke
By Farr produces four single vineyard Pinot Noirs - Farrside, Sangreal, Tout Près and Côte Vineyard. Sangreal is characterised by its perfumed aromatics and silky more open-knit structure.
"The bouquet is savoury, complex and charcuterie-tinged, the palate rich and generous, fruit-sweet at the core and almost plush in its texture. A succulent pinot. There are ample tannins supplying backbone and contributing to length, all in harmony with the gorgeous richness of flavour. A stunning pinot." Huon Hooke
"The Sangreal vineyard was planted in 1994, making it our oldest vineyard. It lies on a north-facing slope and the soil composition is bluestone and overlaying limestone, with red ironstone colouring the surface. This is unlike our other vineyards, which are mostly black volcanic soil with heavy amounts of limestone on the surface. The vine rows run north-south, receiving full sun exposure throughout the day, resulting in more perfumed, prettier wines. This is always the first vineyard to be harvested. The clones used in Sangreal are 114 and 115, which we believe have mutated over time to become the 'Sangreal clone', now within its own microclimate.
Sangreal is consistently made with 70% whole bunch and aged in 70% new oak. It is fermented in a five-tonne oak barrel with an open-top fermenter, and cold soaked for four days before a natural fermentation of seven to nine days. Once the cap falls, the tank is pressed. The wine is racked only once after malolactic fermentation, then sulphured and bottled, the entire process taking a total of 18 months. The wine is unfined and unfiltered in order to retain its natural flavour and bouquet. Sangreal is the most seamless and perfumed of the three single-vineyard pinots.
Each year the same descriptive notes come to mind for this wine: seductive, perfumed, seamless balance and moreish. It is a site that wavers very little in more difficult vintages and excels in the great ones—this is the backbone of By Farr wines. The alluring characters of this vineyard, combined with red fruits, whole bunch, acidity and oak, have produced a beautifully interwoven expression of site and vintage. That's what it's all about." By Farr
Huon Hooke and Nick Farr discuss By Farr: Australian Winery of the Year 2022
Expert reviews
About the winery
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Victoria
Victoria is home to more than 800 wineries across 21 wine regions. The regions are Alpine Valley, Beechworth, Bendigo, Geelong, Gippsland, Glenrowan, Goulburn Valley, Grampians, Heathcote, Henty, King Valley, Macedon Ranges, Mornington Peninsula, Murray Darling, Pyrenees, Rutherglen, Strathbogie Ranges, Sunbury, Swan Hill, Upper Goulburn and Yarra Valley.
Victoria's first vines were planted at Yering in the Yarra Valley in 1838. By 1868 over 3,000 acres had been planted in Victoria, establishing Victoria as the premier wine State of the day. Today, the original vineyards planted at Best's Wines are among the oldest and rarest pre-phylloxera plantings in the world.
Victoria's climate varies from hot and dry in the north to cool in the south and each wine region specialises in different varietals. For example, Rutherglen in the north is famous for its opulent Muscats and Topaque and bold reds, while the many cooler climate regions near Melbourne produce world class Chardonnay and pinot Noir. Victoria is truly a wine lover's playground.