Kaspar Hermann is coming up on seven years at the helm of Toolangi Vineyard. Under his site-first approach–allowing the place and vintage to dictate the result rather than forcing a particular style—the true character and quality of Toolangi’s vineyard are revealing themselves, with impressive results.
After a string of cool years in the Yarra, 2024 delivered a mild, uneventful spring and sunny and warm conditions at harvest. According to Hermann, it’s a season marked by big flavour and attractive regional charm–the proof is in the pudding; this is as good as we’ve seen this wine. Drawn from 22-year-old vines, the fruit was picked over two days in the third week of March. It was partially destemmed and fermented as whole berries, with a small portion of bunches included (10%). After 14 days, the wine was pressed to oak (10% new) for nine months’ maturation. As has come to be expected from this single-vineyard bottling, it’s vibrant and pure-fruited with textural finesse and plenty of bang for your buck.