2015 Tout Près By Farr Pinot Noir

By Farr

Australia / Geelong / By Farr

The overall season was quite balanced in temperature and rainfall. After quite low yields of the 2014 vintage, 2015 crops were back to average through the older vineyards and slightly higher for the young ones. After another fairly dry winter the Farrs relied on continuous rain events throughout the growing season. By mid to late January the vines were looking great, and after much canopy maintenance were in perfect balance. A summer storm in early February finished the season off nicely and fulfilled the season’s promise. The sublime texture and structure of these wines is down to the very mild to cool temperatures during February.
The Farrs started picking in the last week of February for a couple of the thirstier soil types, but really got under way from the 3rd of March when Tout Près was harvested. The fruit had fantastic acidity and flavour from even ripening, and the extended cool days and nights late in the piece. It’s a credit to the vines that in balanced, healthy fruit years the fermentation follows suit – nice and easy. The wines, too, have an ease about them, but with all the detail and excitement you could hope for.

Tout Près is fermented with 100% whole bunches in a five-tonne oak fermenter. This wine has the flavour profile and intensity to absorb 100% new Allier French barrels. Classic Farr nose, a beautiful earth-driven bouquet of integrated spicy fruit, earth, gamey and oak characters. Tout Pres’s classic forest floor character on the palate is complemented by very fine tannins, with a super long and fine palate. Even with its power and multi-layered flavour profile the wine is very focused and long because of the balance, lingering acid. This wine speaks not only of its unique site, but the style of wine that we enjoy to drink. - Nick Farr

August, 2018

James Halliday

Halliday Wine Companion 2019

99 points

From a 1ha vineyard in an amphitheatre with three different soil types, six clones mutated into a single Tout Pres clone planted at 7300 vines per ha, the densest planting on the estate, hence Tout Pres translating to ‘very cosy', 100% whole bunches open-fermented, matured in new French (Allier) oak. What a difference a year makes, especially when one vintage ('15) is brilliant. This wine has a depth to its silently throbbing power from the moment it enters the mouth to the lingering aftertaste. It would be impossible to buy a Burgundy of this quality for less than $250. Bravo.

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About By Farr

The Farr family has presented a resolute and faithful rendering of the vineyards of Geelong since 1978. That’s when Gary Farr started out as winemaker at Bannockburn. His intimate nurturing of the land on his doorstep was informed by a dozen vintages at Domaine Dujac in Burgundy, stints in the USA at Cristom, Oregon and Calera, California, and sojourns to areas such as the Shiraz and Viognier heartland of the Rhône Valley. Prescient and purposeful planting of the By Farr vineyards began in 1994 and the wines that ensued quickly established a formidable reputation. Nick Farr took charge of the range in 2009, and his comment that his father is 90% of his winemaking inspiration is borne out by the attitude, depth of character and understated finesse of the wines. But there’s no doubt that Nick is taking these wines forward with great conviction and instinct. The close-planted trio at the top of the Farr tree - GC Chardonnay, RP Pinot Noir and Tout Près - round out a truly outstanding set of single-vineyard expressions.

About

Nick Farr readily acknowledges the influence of father Gary in his winemaking and viticultural practices—however, these have been significantly enhanced by his own vast experience. While he was growing up, Nick often worked alongside his father on the family estate before a stint at Rosemount in the Hunter Valley in the late 90s. This was followed by more vintages with Gary as well as at Innisfail Vineyards in the Bannockburn area, where Nick commenced his label Farr Rising. Like his father, Nick has experience at international vineyards, including Cristom in Oregon, Au Bon Climate in California, and Domain Dujac in Burgundy.
Nick’s enthusiasm and passion for wine is captivating, and an excellent grounding in both the new and old schools of winemaking is the perfect complement to his individual tastes and ideas. “The wines we make are not mainstream—they are expressions of our vineyard, our land and what we like to drink. That is what we promise to deliver.”