A founding Yarra Valley winery with a cult following has released four new wines from the 2023 and 2024 vintages

The Yarra Valley may be where Victoria’s first vineyard was planted in 1838, but the winegrowing region we know today can trace its beginnings to 1963, when Melbourne lawyer Reg Egan and his wife Bertina bought a block of land in Wantirna South on Melbourne’s eastern outskirts. 

As there were virtually no vines left in the Yarra at that stage, “it was a bit of an experiment to see what would thrive,” says daughter (and now winemaker) Maryann Egan of the initial plantings, which as well as cabernet sauvignon, merlot and chardonnay, included riesling, shiraz, dolcetto, grenache and even pedro ximénez. 

“Reg always expected the suburbs to keep sprawling out to us and for the land to be taken up by suburbs, so it was initially a trial site,” she adds. But in 1971, after the area had been rezoned as a designated 'green wedge', Reg consolidated the vineyard to focus on chardonnay, pinot noir, cabernet sauvignon, cabernet franc and merlot. Petit verdot was planted in the early 1980s.

Wantirna Estate winemaker Maryann Egan.

Today, Wantirna Estate produces four wines – the Isabella Chardonnay, the Lily Pinot Noir, the Amelia Cabernet Merlot, and, inspired by the wines of Bordeaux’s St Emilion, the Hannah Cabernet Franc Merlot. Each wine is named after one of Reg and Tina’s granddaughters, and has a custom Michael Leunig illustration on its label.

A single 4ha vineyard, old vines (between 50 and 62 years old) and low yields mean annual production is tiny – on average, around 100 dozen of the Isabella, 250 dozen of the Lily, and about 300 dozen of the Amelia are made. Just one barrel of the Hannah is produced, equating to about 280 bottles.

Each year in early October, following the wines' release in September, Wantirna Estate invites its customers to the vineyard to pick up their order and taste the new vintage (or occasionally a museum release). Even those who haven’t ordered wines are welcome to attend these open days – even though the wines are usually sold out. “It’s an opportunity to welcome those who have more recently heard about us,” says Maryann. “We are lucky in that we have a wonderful group of people who have been buying for years and it’s a lovely social catch up with them too.”

The Wantirna Estate vineyard is just 40-minutes east of Melbourne's CBD.

“Our location stuns people," she adds. "People can’t believe where we’re located! But we are still surrounded by paddocks; the orchards have mostly given way to horse agistments. Ours is now the only privately owned land in that 1970s green wedge zone – as people have moved on, the Victorian government has purchased the land.”

See how Philip Rich scored the latest release below.

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