By Farr RP Pinot Noir 2022

Stuart McCloskey, February 2025 “Regardless of the vintage, By Farr Pinots have a bouquet all to themselves. Highly distinctive, deeply savoury, and powerful. Even at such a young age, the bouquet is immensely complex and takes time to unravel. Tobacco, woodsmoke and meat lead from the first pouring. With time - smoked red fruits, sous-bois, charred red peppers, dried herbs, undergrowth, layers of minerals, graphite, earth, pencil shaving, black tea, bergamot, iodine, and sweet spice emerge. This is an archetypal glass of autumn, by the fireside. Such a fascinating bouquet – limitless, in fact.  The palate surprised me as I was expecting a behemoth. Instead, this is somewhat dialled-back, but not at the expense of power nor complexity. There’s a primal edge to the wine – transparent, unforced – nature as she intended. In truth, I am not sure where to begin with the flavours. The fruit feels wild (picked off the hedgerows during winter), there’s wild rose, the unmissable tang from blood orange, which provides freshness and lift. The flavours, density and textures fan-out beautifully. This is composed and sensual (almost tender – to quote ‘iron fist in a velvet glove’). Astonishing wine and difficult to comprehend. The length is amazing – this goes on for minutes. This has every ingredient (of the highest quality) to cellar for 20+ years. Today, this is an exceptional Pinot Noir and will undoubtedly turn out to be a profound wine in 10-years. Quite incredible and must be close to perfection… Served using Burgundy stemware. I would decant for 1-3 hours or, follow my lead and pour straight into the glass (and spend the next few hours unravelling). 

99 Points – Huon Hooke, December 2024, RealReview.com
“Impressively deep, bright red-purple colour, in great shape for an Australian pinot of its age, then the bouquet arrives with a great complexity of smoked charcuterie, root vegetables, dark cherry and blackberry delivered with great intensity and volume. The concentration and depth are outstanding, and it's all delivered with great elegance and refinement. The lightness of touch doesn't contradict the power or persistence. A spectacular pinot noir.”
 

The RP Pinot Noir (RP – Robyn Pamela) is in recognition of the matriarch. It is not only the support and goffering that Robyn has endured for Gary’s 40 year career. She has been in the vineyard and planted the first vines, driven the tractors, filled barrels and pigeaged at midnight. If we are ever a man down Robyn has always been the first one we have called to fill the void no matter the job, no matter the time of day. You can always count on mum.

The fruit for this wine is sourced from the Cote Vineyard as is the GC Chardonnay. A close planted / high density planting of Pinot Noir on a exposed cote. These hillsides facing North, North East and East will be the backbone of the Farr dynasty for decades to come.

They consist of the most suitable clones, rootstocks, trellising and management you fill find for our landscape. This is our tribute to what ‘Gazza’ has achieved and provoked over 40 years not only in our region but for chardonnay and pinot noir of Australia.

The North cote is a red to brown loam with buckshot stones across the surface. The most exposed of the three cotes but is harvested last of all because of the large amount of clay, holding valuable moisture for a long longer time than the other slopes.

The North East cote is a continuation of buckshot until the soil becomes black and lined with limestone moving towards the bottom of the rows and a depression that divides limestone from sandstone. At the highest point of the vineyard you will find small amounts of sandstone in the grey sandy loam.

The East cote is divided through the center of the slope by a rise. Black volcanic soil with fragmented limestone in one direction and grey loam with buckshot stones in the other direction. Soil is King as the East cote has the least amount of clay and therefore water holding capacity resulting in it being harvest first even though it is the coolest cote of the three.