The wines of Yabby Lake - tasting the 2008 releases with Tom Carson

Tom Carson presents Yabby Lake's 2008 vintage
A serious producer from Australia's Mornington Peninsula, currently making some stunning Pinots and Chardonnays

Tom Carson (above) is one of the bright stars in the Australian wine firmament. He built his reputation largely through his work at Yarra Valley winery Yering Station. A couple of years ago he moved on to boutique Mornington Peninsula outfit Yabby Lake. I met with him at Ransome's Dock restaurant in London to try the newly released 2008s from Yabby Lake: the first vintage that Tom had been responsible for. These are striking wines of real class, and with this vintage I’d say Yabby Lake is now among Australia's elite band of top wineries. The Block Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays are peers of Australia's best.

Yabby Lake is owned by the Kirby family, who made their money from a cinema chain called the Village Road Show. The first vineyard plantings were in 1998. The Kirbys also own Heathcote Estate and some vineyards in the Strathbogie Ranges.

Establishing a winery like this in Mornington is a long-term proposition, says Tom. The land is expensive, and the Kirbys have invested in building a new winery; they are committed to the long term. Yering Station, Tom's previous winery, was a much bigger operation. 'It is quite a step down from Yering Station,' says Tom. 'It is more focused here; I can get down to handling small blocks.'

Production is quite small. There are around 2000 cases of the entry level Red Claw wines, 1000 cases of the estate wines, and then 200 cases of the Block wines, which are specific blocks that Tom feels have done something special in any particular vintage.

'The main challenge is getting a better understanding of the vineyard and its potential,' says Tom. 'And the last two years have seen challenging climatic conditions.' The Yabby Lake vineyard is split into 90 blocks, according to the soil type and aspect, and around 100 acres are now planted.

The Mornington is very focused on Pinot Noir, with more than 50% of the region planted to this variety. Tom reckons there are now 10-15 producers now making top-end Pinot Noir here. Two factors have helped in this respect: the climate is a little warmer now than it was, and now there is significant vineyard area with vines over 10 years old.

In winemaking, Tom believes in what he calls expression over impression. 'I don't like the term winemaker. It gives the impression of being some sort of a magician. I am more of a craftsman bringing the expression of the vineyard to life.' He also chooses to work naturally. 'Nothing has been added to these wines except sulfur at bottling. I call them natural wines.' He does, however, use some filtration – the wines go through a cross-flow filter. Tom describes this as 'gentle, really excellent technology', and says that it really polishes the wines.

His Chardonnays are striking. 'Chardonnay should be picked right at the beginning of the ripeness spectrum,' says Tom. Of his Chardonnays: 'I love the precise mineral, focused palate with a bit of matchstick on the nose. Delicate wines with underlying power.' When asked what his favourite Yabby Lake wine is: 'there is no better or worse; the point is that the wines are different.'

THE WINES

Red Claw Chardonnay 2008
Complex, quite taut and nutty with some citrus fruits and attractive toasty notes. Some elegance here. Nice purity and balance. Lemony, minerally finish. Very stylish. 91/100

Red Claw Pinot Noir 2008
Quite rich and aromatic with bright cherry fruit and warm spicy notes. Fresh with lovely herb, spice, red cherry, plum and subtle savory meatiness. Supple and nicely balanced. 92/100

Yabby Lake Chardonnay 2008
Complex, intense, savoury and nutty with some mineral notes and elegance. Powerful, fresh, citrussy, this is a very bright Chardonnay with real class and an intense mineral finish. 93/100

Yabby Lake Chardonnay Block 6 Rows 1-15 2008
13% alcohol. This is Mendoza clone from Block 6 of the vineyard. 'I love the block 6: it's just so precise and beauitifully textured,' says Tom. This is fermented with indigenous yeasts in 500 litre oak barrels with no malolactic fermentation and a little bit of lees stirring. Tight, fresh and intense. Very light, beautifully fresh and elegant with real precision. There's some subtle matchstick minerality and fresh citrussy fruit. Tightwound and intense with a hint of good reduction. Nervy, precise and pure with the oak in the background. Incredible stuff: totally world class. 96/100

Yabby Lake Pinot Noir 2008
Sweet, pure, ripe elegant cherry fruit with some liqueur-like richness, but also a hint of sappy greenness. The palate is smoothly textured and pure with fresh, cherryish notes as well as some subtle spiciness. Pure with nice fruit: a serious wine. 93/100

Yabby Lake Pinot Noir Block 2 Rows 1-37 2008
Some structure here. Bright, powerful, fresh cherry and berry fruit on the aromatic nose. The palate has wonderful richness and is both elegant and structured, with ripe fruit and some spicy, mineral depth. Silky cherry and berry fruit to the fore, underpinned by fine-grained tannins. A wine of many dimensions. 96/100

Yabby Lake Block 5 Pinot Noir 2008
Taut and structured with some firm cherry and berry fruit and nice dense structure. Quite fresh with tart berry fruit and nice spicy, cherry notes. There's some tannin, but this is an elegant wine of real interest, finishing dry and tannic. Quite serious. 95/100

Yabby Lake 'Roc' Shiraz 2004
Sweet, quite lush, smooth berry fruits nose with some iodine notes. The palate is silky, sweet and forward but with some lovely peppery, spicy notes. Rich, sweet, dense and peppery, this is quite elegant. 94/100