The Real Review Winery of the Year Australia 2025 - Wine by Farr
Vintage 2025
"When the excitement of vintage rolls around again for another year, there is sometimes an anticlimax initially, in seasons that start and stop for the first couple of weeks. Trying to understand the fruit that comes in, and how the season is ripening, sets the tone for the remainder of vintage and when fruit is picked. There was no such problem in 2025. It was on like Donkey Kong from the 26th of Feb!
The growing season leading up to vintage was sporadic, with burst of warmth and the occasional rain event. This forced the team to be meticulous with hand weeding and canopy shoot selection. We required every available millimetre of rainfall to benefit the vineyards and fruit, and I believe that this dedication from our team is what sets the great producers apart from the rest in the most difficult years. Whether that be extremely dry, hot, cold or wet, the best sites of Chardonnay and Pinot around the world consistently shine through.
The 2025 vintage was fast and furious, just the way Nick likes it. The music is turned up and don’t you even try to lift your head for the next 3 weeks during fruit receival. This is when the adrenaline, passion and character is at its highest, and we love it! With the chardonnay and pinot harvested, our attention turned to Gamay and Shiraz. The season had turned and the ripening conditions for these varieties (and the Irrewarra site) were quite different after mid-March. The ripening occurred very gradually due to some rain and cooler nights, building some interesting flavours in the fruit. Yet the Nebbiolo just didn’t get there again, however it does make delicious Saignee when blended with pinot juice.
The wine we are all most excited about from the 2025 vintage must be the first release of Farr Rising Garganega. This is the 4th year this wine has been produced, but prior to now in has been solely consumed by the team at Ipsos Restaurant, and our team.
The Farr Rising Chardonnay right through to the Tout Pres Pinot, are reflecting the season beautifully. The wines have a balanced level of flavour, the tannins are on the softer side, and acidity to match.
The malic acid was much higher than the previous decade of fruit, so the whites have a detailed austerity about them. The reds have been able to absorb a high proportion of new oak, adding to the great length and bouquet of the wines.
Cheers."
- Team Farr
2025 Viognier
The By Farr viognier consists of a blend of fruit from two vineyards. The first is the original house block, planted in 1994, which is friable red soil over limestone leading to sandstone—similar soils to the Sangreal pinot noir and By Farr chardonnay. The second vineyard is a younger planting of unknown clones in red ironstone soil. The viognier is a difficult variety to manage as it has a tendency to grow horizontally rather than vertically, needs a lot of water and can become sunburnt very easily. Because of this we have decided to pick the fruit earlier in the past few years in order to retain its natural acidity, ensuring we maintain varietal character and creating a more delicate and refined wine.
Vinification
Viognier is foot stomped and left for two or more hours on its skins to extract the phenols, flavour and texture. The fruit is then pressed, cooled and put straight into barrel with all solids for a natural fermentation. Gentle stirring during the end of autumn encourages malolactic fermentation, which softens the finish by converting the tart malic acid to lactic acid. The wine is then racked, fined and filtered. It is ready to be bottled 11 months after harvest.
Tasting Notes
A lovely perfumed, yet subtle expression of viognier. Fresh peach and apricot flavours as a young wine, which we believe will intensify over time. The palate is restrained, luscious and shows a ginger-flavoured freshness with underlying power and lingering aftertaste. This wine benefits beautifully from 12 months of bottle ageing, as the acid softens.
2025 Chardonnay
The By Farr chardonnay comes from the same site as the Sangreal pinot noir—composed of red soil over limestone—and was planted in 1994. The limestone of this site is not exposed on the surface as at other sites. The limestone starts 20 to 30cm below the surface, to the depths of the root zone of the vines. It is a very exposed north-facing slope. The clones used for the chardonnay are a mixture of Dijon clones and Penfolds 58.
Vinification
The fruit is hand-picked then whole-bunch pressed in the winery. All the solids are collected and chilled before being put to barrel, which are 30 per cent new French oak. A natural fermentation will occur at cool temperatures over the next one to two months, and then a small amount of stirring helps start malolactic fermentation. The wine is then racked, fined and lightly filtered before bottling 11 months after picking. A very mineral site for chardonnay.
Tasting Notes
The trademark characteristics of the wine produced on our site are understated power and length with a mineral finish. The wine has a great fruit expression that is well integrated with French oak. The soil characteristics have come through in the style of wine we have today. The palate is fine but firm, with great acidity, texture and length. This wine is rich in flavour, yet very refined.
Vintage 2024
"The feeling of the season leading up to the 2024 vintage, was one of hope. The property was poised for a healthy and vigorous growing season, yet rainfall is required for this to be achieved ! Some winter rains certainly helped but overall the Spring rains didn’t really eventuate as it had during the previous 4 year’s seasons. The resilience of the vineyards was evident though, with average cropping levels seemingly achievable with the assistance of some timely showers and irrigation to maintain the canopy through some warmer weather during February.
The season was certainly mild throughout but the warmer weather was only towards our first picking date of 27th Feb. We tested the waters and decided after two days of picking that the fruit was capable of achieving greater flavour. We resumed picking on the 4th March and never looked back. The Irrewarra vineyard was started on the 19th March followed wonderfully by the Gamay and Shiraz. As we felt another vintage was coming to a close quite swiftly the Nebbiolo once again didn’t play ball. By mid April it was time to finish, so the Nebbiolo was picked and stalling at 12 Beaume. It was destined for Rose for another year.
The whites fermented extremely slowly but perhaps that has been an important factor in the tension that the wines have maintained, considering the warm finish to the season. Classic “Farr” – Calm power.
As for the reds, they certainly remind me of the 2016 vintage. Wines that where capable of being pushed a little harder than the previous 4 vintages. The end result yet still in barrel, have great concentration, character and poise." - Wine by Farr
2024 Farrside Pinot Noir
The Farrside vineyard sits on a northeast-facing slope and consists of limestone topped with black volcanic soil. The vines were planted in 2001 and run east-west to protect the fruit from overexposure to the sun. The clones are a mixture of 114, 115, 777, 667 and MV6. Even though the Farrside and Sangreal vineyards are only 300 metres apart, the darker soils and cooler growing conditions of the Farrside vineyard mean these grapes are picked 10 to 12 days after all others and produce a more masculine and edgy wine.
Vinification
The fruit is hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard, then fermented in an open-top fermenter. Between 40 to 50 per cent of the fruit will be stemmed and then cold soaked for four days. We use only the natural yeast for the fermentation process, which takes roughly 12 days. Grape-stomping (known as pigeage) will occur two to three times a day depending on the amount of extraction required, and the wine is then placed in 50 to 60 per cent new Allier barrels by gravity. It is racked by gas after secondary fermentation, then again at 18 months to be bottled.
Tasting Notes
On Release: Each vintage of Farrside pinot noir exhibits more masculinity, structure and savoury components, while deep meaty, spicy and mineral flavours also continue to evolve. A balanced array of red and black fruits, Farrside pinot noir is fresh and edgy with bucketloads of character. This is a firm yet delicate wine with a long-textured finish.
2024 Sangreal Pinot Noir
The Sangreal vineyard was planted in 1994, making it our oldest vineyard. It lies on a north-facing slope and the soil composition is bluestone and overlaying limestone, with red ironstone colouring the surface. This is unlike our other vineyards, which are mostly black volcanic soil with heavy amounts of limestone on the surface. The vine rows run north-south, receiving full sun exposure throughout the day, resulting in more perfumed, prettier wines. This is always the first vineyard to be harvested. The clones used in Sangreal are 114 and 115, which we believe have mutated over time to become the ‘Sangreal clone’, now within its own microclimate.
Vinification
Sangreal is consistently made with 70 per cent whole bunch and aged in 70 percent new oak. It is fermented in a five-tonne oak barrel with an open-top fermenter, and cold soaked for four days before a natural fermentation of seven to nine days. Once the cap falls, the tank is pressed. The wine is racked only once after malolactic fermentation, then sulphured and bottled, the entire process taking a total of 18 months. The wine is unfined and unfiltered in order to retain its natural flavour and bouquet. Sangreal is the most seamless and perfumed of the three single-vineyard pinots.
Tasting Notes
Each year the same descriptive notes come to mind for this wine: seductive, perfumed, seamless balance and moreish. It is a site that wavers very little in more difficult vintages and excels in the great ones—this is the backbone of By Farr wines. The alluring characters of this vineyard, combined with red fruits, whole bunch, acidity and oak, have produced a beautifully interwoven expression of site and vintage. That’s what it’s all about.
2024 Shiraz
Shiraz fruit comes from the original By Farr vineyard, planted in 1994. It lies on a north-facing slope, and the red volcanic soil has a base of limestone with deep-set sandstone.
Vinification
All fruit is hand-picked from the VSP trellising, with 20 per cent left as whole bunches in the fermentation. Most years we co-ferment between 2 and 4 per cent viognier with the shiraz, the date determining whether or not the former is co-fermented and bled back. It is a natural fermentation, with the fruit remaining in the tank for 19 days before pressing. Shiraz sees 18 months in French oak, 20 per cent being new, and is bottled under vacuum.
Tasting Notes
A powerful nose, with the depth and complexity of cool-climate shiraz. This wine is spiced with pepper and mineral elements, leaning towards earthy. The co-fermented viognier adds a little richness to both the bouquet and palate, which has a very pleasant sweetness to start, followed by intense fruit and earthy long tannins to complete the delicate structure and overall elegance of the wine.
(Nick Farr - Farr Rising | www.byfarr.com.au)