Pinot Noir “Tout Près” Geelong 2021 – By Farr

To produce the Pinot Noir “Tout Près” Geelong By Farr the fruit was hand picked and sorted in the vineyard. Following a four day cold soak, the grapes were 100% whole bunch fermented in a large oak fermenter before the wine was transferred by gravity to 100% new Allier Remond barrels where it was racked twice: firstly after malolactic fermentation and again after 18 months prior to bottling.

From a single vineyard of only 2.5 acres, Tout Pres has three individual soil types, across a three sided cirque (an amphitheatre-like valley head) that rises above the other vineyards. Each slope consists of a specific soil type. The largest slope is black volcanic soil over limestone, the second is quartz gravel mixed with red ironstone soil, and the third is an iron strand in grey sandy loam. The clones currently used are 113, 114, 115, 667, 777 and MV6 in this vineyard which the Farrs expect to acclimatise and mutate to become the ‘Tout Pres clone’. It is the most densely planted vineyard on the estate, hence its name ‘very cosy’ at 7,500 vines per hectare. The soil composition and the competition between the vines forces them to work hard, which leads to excellent concentration and balance in the final wine.

Behind By Farr there are winemakers Gary Farr and son Nick. Gary has made wine in Australia (at Bannockburn) and Burgundy (he worked 10 vintages at Domaine Dujac) since the early 1980s. Today, from 33 acres in Geelong, 80 kilometres southwest of Melbourne, they make small quantities of single vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay that rank with Australia’s best.