This is our first ever single vineyard release made in partnership with the incredible Sarah Crowe at Yarra Yering, the Halliday Wine Companion’s Winery of the Year for 2022. Props to you Crowey but frankly, we you knew you were good ages ago. 

It’s the combination of two of the best-known Shiraz products from the Yarra Valley: one the region’s finest Shiraz vineyard, Yarra Yering’s Underhill and the other, our Bloody Shiraz Gin. Intense, dark and slightly bitter it is unlike anything we’ve ever tasted, let alone made, before. 

As gin makers (and wine drinkers) based in the Yarra Valley, we’ve loved Yarra Yering since, well, forever. Cameron still remembers his first and only encounter with Dr Bailey Carrodus, Yarra Yering’s founder.  

Since the start of 2020 we’ve been quietly ageing some Rare Dry Gin in two Yarra Yering barrels, so when Sarah Crowe (Yarra Yering’s legendary current winemaker) agreed to sell us two parcels of Underhill Shiraz fruit it was a no-brainer. The question was how to make the most of the rarest of opportunities and do justice to the fruit and the history of Yarra Yering.  

Cam got his wannabe winemaker strides on and whole bunches of Shiraz were steeped in the 14 month Yarra Yering barrel-aged gin and then we let nature take its course, for the best part of three months, before we pressed the gin and juice gently. You can watch Cam chat through the process in more depth here: 

The resulting gin was more interesting and complex than we had expected, with an almost Amaro-like richness balanced with incredible bright, fresh grape flavours.  

The final result combines one of the great Shiraz vineyards of Australia, two uniquely barrel-aged gins, the creative genius of a great winemaker and a great distiller, and the art of blending something completely new with no benchmark or guiding light.  

This intense, dark, sweet and slightly bitter gin drink is the ultimate expression of the adage; “if you don’t ask, you don’t get.”  

No gin-based drink we have ever seen has tasted quite like this. It is far removed from our regular Bloody Shiraz Gin; deeper in colour, higher in alcohol, more intense in sweetness and considerably more complex in flavour. The tannins are stronger and the Amaro-like bitterness adds a dryness that makes this very sippable.  

Tasting the final gin requires a couple of ice cubes and, unusually for us, some quiet moments of concentration and reflection. It’s a bit mad and it will definitely challenge perceptions of what gin can be. 

Making this gin in 2021 was an incredible privilege and experiment that really turned out better than we could have imagined. If mother nature plays ball with Yarra Yering’s revered Underhill vineyard, we hope from here on in to make it an annual tradition.