The Vintage
The 2022 vintage was fascinating as much is it was challenging. November was incredibly wet, cool and windy leading to terrible flowering and fruit set for Pinot noir and Chardonnay in particular. These conditions, along with an already low bunch count, led to an extremely small crop, the smallest we have seen since 2014. The weather that followed in January and February was nothing short of spectacular. The small crops combined with fairly dry and warm conditions led to some exceptional wines across the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula. Intense, concentrated, complex wines that are delicious drinking now but will undoubtedly improve for those with patience. Franco D’Anna
2022 DML Mornington Peninsula
This wine is a blend from two vineyards on the Peninsula, one situated in Balnarring and the other in Merricks. The Merricks vineyard we lease and manage ourselves providing complete autonomy over how we wish to grow the fruit. Of the pair of DML wines we make, this remains the slightly darker fruited, more dense and savoury edged wines of the two. The nose opens with stewed plum, rhubarb and cherry liquor notes, along with spice, earth and other savoury complexities. The palate is medium bodied and shows flavours of blackberry, cranberry, baking spice and other savoury nuances. These flavours on the palate are perfectly supported by a core of tannin and well balanced acid that run through this wine. Sam Middleton
2022 DML Yarra Valley
The fruit for our Yarra Valley iteration continues to be sourced from a very well renowned upper Yarra Valley vineyard that we are proud to have many years of experience working with. This wine when compared with its Mornington counterpart, could be considered the slightly more shy, more edgy wine of the two. It requires time in the glass to unfurl, but when given the chance the 2022 displays all the hallmarks of this outstanding vineyard from an exceptional vintage. The nose displays sweeter red fruits, namely stewed strawberries, cranberries, cinnamon spice and a hint of creamy French oak. The palate is crunchy, red fruited with a silky fresh finish of impressive length. The extremely fine bead of tannin that runs through this wine offers length and drive to the finish. Sam Middelton