By Farr, Tout Près Pinot Noir 2021, Geelong

Based in Geelong, around 80 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, Gary Farr and his son Nick make small quantities of single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that rank among Australia’s best. Gary has been making wine since the early 1980s in Australia (at Bannockburn) and Burgundy (10 vintages at Domaine Dujac). Not simply following in his father’s footsteps, Nick has also carved out a stellar reputation of his own and was named Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller Wine in 2020.

The soils at ‘Farrside’ and ‘Tout Près’ are primarily black volcanic with heavy amounts of limestone on the surface. ‘Tout Près’ is a densely planted hillside site (7,300 vines per hectare) and produces the most intense of the four Pinot Noirs. Due to its density and low yields, ‘Tout Près’ is also three times more expensive to farm than ‘Sangreal’. The ‘RP’ Pinot Noir is a tribute to Gary’s wife and Nick’s mum, Robyn Pamela. It is a beautifully perfumed wine, made with fruit sourced from the ‘Côte’ Vineyard. The ‘Tout Près’ and ‘Sangreal’ Pinot Noirs are fermented in wood and aged in Allier oak barrels, while ‘Farrside’ and ‘RP’ are vinified in stainless steel before ageing in wood.

From a single, one-hectare vineyard comes a wine with the classic By Farr nose, with a beautiful earth-driven bouquet of integrated spicy fruit, mineral elements and oak characters. Tout Près has a signature forest floor character on the palate that is complemented by very fine tannins and a long and fine finish. Even with its power and multi-layered flavour profile, the wine is very focused due to balanced, lingering acidity.