Region: Victoria
Sub Region: Geelong
Variety: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2016
Style: Dry red
Format: 750 mL
The Wine
Planted in 1994, Sangreal is the Farr family’s oldest vineyard in the Moorabool Valley. Its north-facing slope has red ironstone at the surface, with limestone over bluestone beneath. The rows run north to south, giving the vines good exposure through the day. It’s the first site the Farrs pick and the source of one of their most perfumed Pinots.
In 2016, a dry, mild spring brought flowering forward, with rain in late January refreshing the vines before an early harvest. The hand-picked Pinot was cold soaked and fermented with native yeasts in an open oak vat, with 70% whole bunches. It then spent 18 months in oak, 60% new, and was bottled without fining or filtration.
There’s a lovely tension between the ripe wild strawberry and cherry fruit and the wine’s savoury stem and spice character. The 2016 has the depth associated with the Farr Pinots, with a particularly fine line of tannin running through it. Bottle age gives the perfume, woodsmoke and forest-floor detail a chance to show alongside the fruit.
Cellared Says
Sangreal is where I tend to start when someone asks me about the Farr Pinots. It tells you a lot about the family’s style, especially that combination of perfume and real structure. The attraction with the 2016 is seeing what happens ten years from harvest: the whole bunch spice has time to become part of the wine, and the savoury detail gets a chance to speak. If you’ve been buying the recent releases, I’d open this to see why people put Sangreal away.
Reviews
“… this vintage bestows a measure of linearity, a sinuous line to the palate …”
97 Points — James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
“It’s braided with herbs, stems, peppers, cedar, woodsmoke and cherry plum.”
96 Points — Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Region: Victoria
Sub Region: Geelong
Variety: Pinot Noir
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2016
Style: Dry red
Format: 750 mL
The Wine
Planted in 1994, Sangreal is the Farr family’s oldest vineyard in the Moorabool Valley. Its north-facing slope has red ironstone at the surface, with limestone over bluestone beneath. The rows run north to south, giving the vines good exposure through the day. It’s the first site the Farrs pick and the source of one of their most perfumed Pinots.
In 2016, a dry, mild spring brought flowering forward, with rain in late January refreshing the vines before an early harvest. The hand-picked Pinot was cold soaked and fermented with native yeasts in an open oak vat, with 70% whole bunches. It then spent 18 months in oak, 60% new, and was bottled without fining or filtration.
There’s a lovely tension between the ripe wild strawberry and cherry fruit and the wine’s savoury stem and spice character. The 2016 has the depth associated with the Farr Pinots, with a particularly fine line of tannin running through it. Bottle age gives the perfume, woodsmoke and forest-floor detail a chance to show alongside the fruit.
Cellared Says
Sangreal is where I tend to start when someone asks me about the Farr Pinots. It tells you a lot about the family’s style, especially that combination of perfume and real structure. The attraction with the 2016 is seeing what happens ten years from harvest: the whole bunch spice has time to become part of the wine, and the savoury detail gets a chance to speak. If you’ve been buying the recent releases, I’d open this to see why people put Sangreal away.
Reviews
“… this vintage bestows a measure of linearity, a sinuous line to the palate …”
97 Points — James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion
“It’s braided with herbs, stems, peppers, cedar, woodsmoke and cherry plum.”
96 Points — Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Image 1 of 1
