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Yarra Yering | Halliday's Cabernet Blend of 2026

by Hugh French | May 04, 2026

One of the Yarra Valley’s defining estates, Yarra Yering has charted its own course since its founding in 1969, now firmly established as a benchmark for the region. Under Sarah Crowe, the style remains clear, with wines that are structured, composed and built to age without excess.

Dry-grown vineyards and naturally low yields form the foundation. In the winery, the approach is measured, with hand harvesting, careful sorting and a focus on clarity over extraction. Oak is used with intent rather than weight, and élevage supports rather than defines. The result is a range that feels balanced, composed and assured, never overworked.

The recent vintages reflect both challenge and control. The 2023 season was cool, wet and drawn out, producing low yields but wines of finesse and detail. In contrast, 2024 began with difficulty before settling into a long, even finish, allowing steady ripening and strong flavour development while retaining freshness. Across both vintages, the wines favour line, structure and understated confidence, with the capacity to age gracefully.

SHOP YARRA YERING

2024 Dry White No. 2

Usually $75

Now $65

95 Points

"Blend of Marsanne, Roussanne, Grenache Blanc and Viognier.

Classy wine. Arresting actually. Spice, brine, white peach, cooked apple and cedar-cream characters with a general waxiness threaded throughout. Effectively a white pepper character in pay too, or certainly something in the pepper/mace area, and oyster shells too. This is both suggestive of richness and taut. Big love here. This is fabulous."

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

2024 Crecy Chardonnay

Usually $159

Now $145

95 Points

"Pop a few of this wine into your stash and you’d be doing well. It’s built to age well. It tastes of nectarine and brine, wax, honey-cream, subtle herbs and preserved lemon, but it’s the taut control of it, and the air of confidence, that really wins you over. This is excellent, but I wouldn’t touch it for a few more years."

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

2024 Chardonnay

Usually $135

Now $124

95 Points

"Yarra Yering’s chardonnay vines were planted in 1969.

Yarra Yering Chardonnay feels both traditional and modern at once. It’s tight, zesty and fresh, with excellent fruit quality and power, though it also flashes a bit of (integrated) oak at you, which personally I enjoy (in chardonnay). White peach, custard apples, cedarwood and spice characters come infused with toast, cinnamon and smoked hay notes. It’s firm, long and delicious; you could drink this now or, just as easily, cellar it for a decade. From all angles this wine is immaculate."

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

2024 Waterloo Pinot Noir

Usually $75

Now $65

94 Points

"Yarra Yering’s Waterloo Block is planted to MV6 only (whereas the main block is planted to a range of different pinot clones, MV6 included).

This is excellent. These 2024 releases are some of winemaker Sarah Crowe’s best work yet, I’d argue. This Waterloo Pinot Noir is bright and murky at once, in the best of ways, with fresh red cherry, stewed strawberries, sweet and woodsy spice notes, and tips of both mint and smoked cedar. It tastes of Pinot Noir and of the Yarra Valley but it also tastes of itself. Thunderbirds are very much go here."

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

2024 Dry Red No 3 Red Blend

Usually $110

Now $109

95 Points

"Over a long period of time Yarra Yering Dry Red No. 3 has proven itself to be a masterstroke of both concept and execution. It’s a dry red wine grown on one of the best sites in the Yarra Valley, using an assortment of Portuguese grape varieties. The 2024 season has produced a blend of 46% Touriga Naçional, 23% Tinta Cão, 15% Tinta Roriz, 7% Tinta Amarela, 5% Alvarelhão and 4% Sousão. These are the last grapes harvested on the property each season. No new oak.

It’s a wine of delicacy and a wine of difference. It’s also a wine that you want to guzzle, though it has the structure and associated quality markers to make you, also, want to cellar it. It tastes of a variety of berries, ripe and red but not necessarily sweet, with herb, woods, chicory and stem characters littered modestly throughout. It’s also a perfumed wine. And a contemplative one. Indeed, it’s not a wine to smack you in the face; you need to sit and let both you and it unfurl a bit."

Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

2023 Underhill Shiraz

Usually $135

Now $124

97 Points

"From a shiraz vineyard planted in '73 adjacent to Yarra Yering. 10% whole bunches and matured mainly in puncheons (15% new). Perfumed with aromas of cherry, cassis, a floral nuance and freshly ground black pepper. On the palate this medium-bodied and elegant wine is a little more compact and precise than the Dry Red No. 2. The tannins are superfine and persistent and, while this may not quite have the staying power of the previous two vintages, it will still age gracefully for a decade, if not two!"

Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

2023 Dry Red No 2 Shiraz Blend

Usually $135

Now $124

97 Points

"A blend of 99.5/.05% shiraz/viognier. Fermented with whole berries and matured in barriques (30% new). The cool vintage shows through in what's a lovely and elegant rendition of this Yarra Valley classic. Aromas of red and black fruits, spices and ironstone together with a gentle meatiness. Medium bodied and supple. An approachable and quite delicious Dry Red No. 2 that will provide copious amounts of enjoyment now and over the next 10–15 years."

Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

2023 Agincourt Cabernet Blend

Usually $115

Now $102

95 Points

"A blend of 70/30% '95-planted cabernet/'90-planted malbec. Matured in French barriques (15% new). A medium bright crimson purple. Complex aromas of black cherry, blackcurrant, pencil shavings and potpourri spices. Good depth on the medium-bodied, finely tuned and gently crunchy palate. Lingers nicely and will give pleasure earlier than the '22."

Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

2023 Dry Red No 1 Cabernet Blend

Usually $160

Now $145

99 Points

2026 Cabernet & Blends of the Year.

"A blend of 58/23/15/4% cabernet sauvignon/merlot/malbec/petit verdot, the cabernet coming from the original '69-planted vineyard. Matured in barrique (35% new). A deep, bright purple. Classic cool-climate cabernet aromas of black cherry, blackcurrants, cedar, licorice and subtle iodine. The palate is simultaneously concentrated, structured and refined, finishing with an ironstone minerality. Approachable now with food, but anyone who buys some will want to make sure they still have a bottle, or three, 10 to 15 years from now."

Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion