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
See
also:
Landmark
Australia Tutorial (series)
Wines
tasted 05/10
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