Yarra Yarra

Despite its small production, the wines of Yarra Yarra have found their way into a veritable who's who of Melbourne's best restaurants, encouraging Ian Maclean to increase the estate plantings from 2ha to over 7ha in 1996 and '97. Demand for the beautifully crafted wines continued to exceed supply, so the Macleans planted yet more vines and increased winery capacity. All this seemed to go up in flames as the terrible 2009 Black Saturday bushfires consumed the winery, irreplaceable museum stock from '83 to 2000, the then yet-to-be-bottled '08 Syrah and '06 and '08 Sauvignon Blanc Semillon (the '07 vintage had been destroyed by frost), and scorched or burnt 50% of the estate vineyards. Friends rallied to the cause, and Ian has embarked on the long job of repairing/replacing the vineyard trellis system, methodically replanting the half of the vineyard destroyed by fire and introducing the use of organic/biodynamic sprays. The new winery was finished at the end of April '10. When friends asked why he should do all this, having turned 65, his answer was simple:‘My greatest wines have yet to be made.' Exports to Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan and Hong Kong. -JAMES HALLIDAY