Yarra Valley (10) Bobar
Sally and Tom Belford met at wine school, and in 2010 began making wine together in the Yarra Valley. I visited them back in 2015, but in the interim hadn’t seen the wines around, so it was nice to catch up with Tom almost a decade later to taste through the range at the excellent Barrique wine bar in Healsville.
These are excellent low-intervention wines. Farming is organic, there’s no fining or filtration, no acidification, all ferments are wild and there’s low SO2 use.
There’s a great profile of them, charting their winemaking history here: https://younggunofwine.com/winemaker/bobar-sally-tom-belford/
Bobar Viognier 2023 Yarra Valley, Australia
10.5% alcohol. This is bright with nice energy and a good acid line. Lime, apricot and pear fruit with nice focus and a mineral edge. Precise with high acidity. 93/100
Bobar Chardonnay 2023 Yarra Valley, Australia
Fresh and linear. Tart with lemony fruit and high acidity. Such focus and precision here with a stony, mineral edge and plenty of energy. 94/100
Bobar Verduzzo 2023 Yarra Valley, Australia
This is a 40 year old parcel, dry grown, in the west of Coldstream. Three weeks whole cluster. Lively and energetic with great acidity and pure fruit: apple, mandarin, lime. There’s a bit of grip, too. Nice energy and finesse here. 94/100
Bobar Pinot Noir 2023 Yarra Valley, Australia
Supple and fresh with nice red cherry fruit as well as some wild strawberry. Nice texture with lovely silky tannins. 94/10
Bobar Syrah Malbec 2023 Yarra Valley, Australia
Some reduction on the nose, with sweet black cherry fruit and a nice peppery edge to the sleek fruit, as well as some plummy character. Nice texture with some grip on the finish. Stylish. 93/100
