Yarra Yering Winery

Yarra Yering is a hidden gem. Founded by Bailey Carrodus in 1969, when the Yarra Valley had been completely devoid of vines since the 1920’s, it’s planting marked the beginning of the area’s resurgence into one of Australia’s great wine regions.

Bailey Carrodus was an eccentric man who for many years only sold wine through his old cellar door. He was certainly well qualified for the job of vigneron having a degree in botany, another in winemaking and a doctorate earned at Oxford for research into plant physiology. All of this meant Bailey did not follow convention rather regularly tested his own theories which lead to the creation of exotic and characterful styles. This can be seen by his combining of Shiraz and Viognier and Marsanne, decades before it became fashionable in Australia.

In wine production, Bailey had 92 different fermenters allowing him to run numerous experiments during each vintage to allow him to gain a better understanding of the best winemaking techniques for his vineyard site. This site, regarded by many as one of the finest in the Yarra Valley, was chosen long before modern vineyard mapping techniques illustrating Bailey’s uncommon skills. Bailey was always focused on making wines of complexity, palate evenness and a long fruit finish without excessive fruit sweetness nor oak, something he achieved best of all in his majestic Dry Red #1.

Yarra Yering Wine list

Yarra Yering has a small but exciting range. The finest wines have always been Dry Red #1 (Cabernet Blend), Dry Red #2 (Shiraz Blend), Pinot Noir, Portsorts, Merlot and Viognier with the Chardonnay much less convincing. Recent vintages have seen the addition of a Dry Red #3, a Touriga Nacional blend, a reserve Carrodus Cabernet Merlot and Agincourt red blends.