Yering Station Reserve Shiraz Viognier 2003

Yering Station was founded in 1838, just three years after Melbourne was first settled by Europeans, produced the first Yarra Valley wine and became Victoria's first commercial vineyard. In 1996, the Rathbone family purchased Yering Station, revitalised the vineyards and transformed the historic property into a renowned winery and tourism destination. Tom Carson was appointed winemaker, and during his 12-year tenure, he helped put the winery on the map and the Rathbone family realise their vision. He produced many outstanding wines from a number of grape varieties, but perhaps his greatest success was the creation of the Reserve Shiraz Viognier, which swept all before it in wine competitions in the early 2000s.

"Tom Carson admits that the Yering Station reserve shiraz-viognier is 'our only wine that I really throw the oak at, and I do that because it’s made to look good as an aged wine'. Full of spicy, cedary aromatics but dominated by oak as it washes through the mouth, this release maintains its impression of dryness even as flavours of kirsch, chocolate, pepper and anise power on. Great booze. Tasted Apr 2012: In very good shape. You could keep it another 15-20 years if you really wanted to."  Campbell Mattinson

Expert reviews

"Deep colour; highly aromatic; smooth and supple plum and black fruits; integrated oak; balanced tannins. Drink by 2018." James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 95 points

"Tom Carson admits that the Yering Station reserve shiraz-viognier is 'our only wine that I really throw the oak at, and I do that because it’s made to look good as an aged wine'. Full of spicy, cedary aromatics but dominated by oak as it washes through the mouth, this release maintains its impression of dryness even as flavours of kirsch, chocolate, pepper and anise power on. Great booze. Drink: 2008-2016. Tasted Apr 2012: In very good shape. Will live a long way beyond the drinking window above. You could keep it another 15-20 years if you really wanted to."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 95 points

Tom Carson

Tom Carson is widely regarded as one of the top winemakers in Australia. Tom graduated as winemaker in 1991 and began his career with Tim Knappstein in Clare, where he met his wife Nadège. It was here that Tom discovered the potential for pinot noir in Australia, working with the first two vintages of Lenswood Vineyards Pinot Noir. He then moved to the Yarra Valley, where he worked at Coldstream Hills as assistant winemaker to James Halliday in 1992 and 1993, then Yarra Edge and finally Yering Station in 1996. 

The historic Yering Station was purchased by the Rathbone family in 1996 and is also the site of the Yarrabank joint venture with French Champagne house Devaux. Tom worked at Yering Station for 12 years, helping put the winery on the map and the Rathbone family realise their vision. He produced many outstanding wines from a number of grape varieties during his tenure, but perhaps his greatest success was the creation of the Reserve Shiraz Viognier, which swept all before it in wine competitions in the early 2000s. Carson was also named 'International Winemaker of the Year' at the 2004 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London.

During the first stages of his career Carson also worked five vintages in France, three in Burgundy and a couple in Champagne. These included vintage at Champagne Devaux in 1996 and vintage at Burgundy with Bernard Moreau in Chassagne Montrachet in 2000. Carson said what he learnt in Burgundy was "respect for the land and the vineyard. The time-honoured wealth of knowledge in Burgundy is something you can't pick up in a four week vintage. It comes from generations of farming.  But it puts some perspective on what we're doing in Australia. We can't rush it.”

In 2002, Tom was named the Dux of the Len Evans Tutorial. "There have been many impressive performances at the Len Evans Tutorials which would have impressed even the great man himself – whose palate memory was legendary. But Tom Carson's feat at the second tutorial in 2002 is probably the stand-out. He correctly identified the six Domaine de la Romanée-Conti grand cru vineyards blind, a feat that was all the more impressive as every wine was from a different vintage."  Huon Hooke, The Real Review.

This event also marked the beginning of Carson's wine judging career. He become the youngest Chairman to preside at The National Wine Show in Canberra and over the years has judged at a number of capital city and regional shows. He is currently Chairman of the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards.

In 2008, Tom Carson left Yering Station and was appointed General Manager and Chief Winemaker of Kirby Family Vineyards, owners of Yabby Lake on the Mornington Peninsula. His arrival added lustre to the winery and its wines. Yabby Lake has afforded him the perfect opportunity to explore his passion for chardonnay and pinot noir, and under his helm, Yabby Lake has scaled new heights with these two Burgundy grape varieties. One of his major claims to fame was in 2013 when he became the first winemaker to win the coveted Jimmy Watson trophy at the Melbourne Wine Show with a pinot noir, the 2012 Yabby Lake Block 1 Pinot Noir.

While working on his day jobs over the years at Yering Station and Yabby Lake, Carlson managed to find time to start his own wine Yarra Valley label Serrat. He and his wife Nadège planted their first hectare with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Viognier in 2002, followed by a second block of Shiraz in 2003. Further plantings of a range of varietals took place in 2007, 2010, 2016 and 2017. James Halliday awarded the 2014 Serrat Shiraz Viognier his Wine of the Year in 2014 and it would be fair to say that the Serrat yearly release is one of the most anticipated events in the wine calendar for wine cognoscenti. In addition, Carson was named the 2023 Halliday Wine Companion Awards Viticulturist of the Year, an award that celebrates the individual whose wines in that year's Companion most fully exemplify best practices in the vineyard. 

About the winery

Yering Station was founded in 1838, just three years after Melbourne was first settled by Europeans. The pioneering Ryrie brothers acquired 43,000 acres of land in the Yarra Valley and named the property 'Yering', its Aboriginal name. They planted a small vineyard with two grape varieties, establishing the Yarra Valley wine region and becoming Victoria's first commercial vineyard. They made the first Yarra Valley wine seven years later, in 1845.

The property remained primarily a cattle station until Swiss-French immigrant Paul de Castella took ownership in 1850. He planted 20,000 grape-vine cuttings imported from around the globe, including some from Chateau Lafite, and by 1859, 51 acres were under vine. The same year, construction of the original winery began to house the winemaking equipment. Today, this historic building houses the cellar door.

By the 1860s, other vineyards had been established in the Yarra Valley. A second de Castella brother, Hubert, planted St Huberts in 1863 and Guillaume de Pury established Yeringburg in 1864. Plantings in the Valley reached nearly 1000 acres by the turn of the century. 

Following the bank crash of the 1890s, Paul de Castella sold Yering in 1896 to his creditors and winemaking stopped. The property was converted to a dairy farm in 1901 and to stables in the 1920s. The onset of the Great Depression and the increasing popularity of fortified wine saw all the vines in the Yarra Valley uprooted in the 1920s and the lands returned to pasture.

The rejuvenation of the Valley as one of Australia’s great cool climate regions began in the 1960s, with many new vineyards planted, including the re-establishment of Yeringburg and St Huberts. However, it wasn’t until 1988 that Yering Station was replanted, and the first wines of the new era were made by contract in 1991.

In 1996, the Rathbone family purchased Yering Station, revitalised the vineyards and transformed the historic property into a renowned winery and tourism destination. Tom Carson was appointed winemaker, and during his 12-year tenure, he helped put the winery on the map and the Rathbone family realise their vision. He produced many outstanding wines from a number of grape varieties, but perhaps his greatest success was the creation of the Reserve Shiraz Viognier, which swept all before it in wine competitions in the early 2000s. Carson was also named 'International Winemaker of the Year' at the 2004 International Wine and Spirit Competition in London.