2024 By Farr Irrewarra Pinot Noir | Single Vineyard Victorian Pinot Noir

🍷 BY FARR IRREWARRA | SINGLE VINEYARD | COOL-CLIMATE PINOT WITH A SENSE OF PLACE

This is one of the most fascinating Pinot Noirs in the Farr portfolio.

One of the smartest buys in the entire Farr portfolio

Western District, Victoria

RRP $77 a bottle

By Farr – But From Somewhere Completely Different

This is one of the most fascinating Pinot Noirs in the Farr portfolio.

The 2024 Irrewarra Pinot Noir is made by the Farr family, but unlike Sangreal, Farrside and Tout Près, the fruit doesn't come from the family's home vineyards near Geelong.

Instead, Irrewarra comes from a remote vineyard in Victoria's Western District, planted by the Calvert family in 2001.

The vineyard is predominantly Pinot Noir, with approximately six acres planted alongside two acres of Chardonnay. The vines grow on their own roots, and the long, cool growing season means vintage generally doesn't occur until April.

The result is unmistakably Farr in its precision—but completely different in personality.

Sour cherry. Earth. Spice. Mineral drive. Elegant structure.

At RRP $77, it also represents one of the most compelling ways to experience Farr Pinot Noir.

Tasting Notes

The 2024 is wonderfully savoury and complex, showing:

• Sweet and sour cherry
• Cranberry
• Raspberry
• Darker berries
• Rose petals
• Earth and forest floor
• Exotic spice
• Subtle char and smoke
• Savoury mineral notes
• Fine, elegant tannins

The official vineyard description captures the character beautifully: sweet and sour cherries, earth, spice and elegant structure.

There's lovely perfume initially, but this isn't simply a pretty Pinot.

The fruit moves between sweet red cherry and more tart, sinewy cranberry notes, with earth, spice and darker barrel complexity underneath. The palate has real shape and persistence, with the long mineral finish that has become a hallmark of Irrewarra.

It's fragrant, savoury, earthy and beautifully detailed.

A Remote Western District Vineyard

This is where Irrewarra becomes really interesting.

The vineyard was planted in 2001 and sits high on a slope overlooking large bodies of water known as Salt Lake and Calvert Lough.

It's a very different environment from the Farr family's home vineyards.

The growing season is long, with harvest typically taking place in April, and the site has developed a reputation for producing wines with expressive fruit and deceptively long, mineral palates.

This isn't Farrside at a cheaper price.

And it isn't Sangreal Lite.

Irrewarra has its own identity.

MV6 + Dijon Clones

There's an important change in the 2024 vintage.

The 2023 Irrewarra Pinot Noir was made entirely from dry-grown, own-rooted MV6 Pinot Noir.

For the 2024, Nick Farr incorporated a small amount of Dijon-clone fruit alongside the MV6, specifically to bring additional sweetness and balance to MV6's naturally savoury personality.

That's fascinating for Pinot lovers.

MV6 provides much of the wine's savoury depth, structure and complexity, while the small Dijon component adds another dimension to the fruit.

The result is a beautifully layered 2024.

Classic Farr Winemaking

The fruit is hand harvested and sorted in the vineyard.

Interestingly, despite some tasting notes suggesting whole-bunch character, the winery states that the fruit is 100% destemmed before fermentation in open-top fermenters.

The wine is then transferred by gravity into Allier French oak, with approximately 30% new barrels.

Following secondary fermentation, it is racked using gas and eventually bottled after an extended maturation period.

The result is classic Farr philosophy:

Minimal handling. Serious attention to detail. Let the vineyard speak.

Where Does Irrewarra Sit in the By Farr Pinot Range?

This is a great question because each Farr Pinot has such a distinctive personality.

Sangreal
Perfumed • Silky • Seductive • Floral

Farrside
Dark • Savoury • Structured • Powerful

Irrewarra
Earthy • Spicy • Mineral • Wild • Elegant

That's why Irrewarra shouldn't simply be viewed as the cheaper By Farr Pinot.

It's a completely different vineyard expression.

For $77, that's incredibly compelling.

Pinot Noir with a Genuine Sense of Place

Nick Farr's own description of this wine isn't just about fruit flavours.

He asks you to imagine sitting at the top of the vineyard surrounded by cows, water, grass and Western District farmland before describing the wine's sweet-and-sour cherry, earth and spice characters.

That tells you a lot about what Irrewarra is trying to achieve.

This isn't Pinot designed to taste polished and generic.

It's Pinot designed to taste like somewhere.

And that's what makes it interesting.

Food Pairings

Perfect with:

• Roast duck
• Duck breast
• Pork belly
• Roast chicken
• Mushroom risotto
• Truffle pasta
• Chargrilled salmon
• Venison
• Beef tartare
• Soft cheeses

The savoury, earthy character makes this particularly good with duck and wild mushrooms.

Serve around 15–17°C in a large Burgundy glass.

Cellaring

There's plenty to enjoy now.

The 2024 has immediate perfume, vibrant cherry fruit and beautiful texture, but the combination of acidity, savoury complexity and fine tannins gives it the structure to develop.

Drink now–2036+.

If opening young, give it 30–60 minutes of air and watch how the spice and earthiness emerge.

Why We Love It

This might be one of the smartest buys in the entire Farr portfolio.

You're getting Pinot Noir made by one of Australia's great Pinot-producing families, but from a completely different vineyard and landscape.

The site was planted in 2001, the vines are on their own roots, and the 2024 combines predominantly MV6 with a small amount of Dijon-clone fruit. The wine is hand harvested, 100% destemmed and matured with approximately 30% new Allier oak.

Most importantly, it tastes distinctive.

Sweet and sour cherry. Flowers. Earth. Spice. Smoke. Mineral length.

It's recognisably Farr—but unmistakably Irrewarra.

And at RRP $77, compared with Sangreal at $145 and Farrside at $117, this is a brilliant entry point into the Farr family's Pinot Noir world.

If you love By Farr but haven't tried Irrewarra, don't overlook it. The 2024 may be the vintage that makes you realise this isn't the little brother of the Farr Pinots—it's a serious wine in its own right.

👉 Just six acres of Pinot Noir. Dry grown. Own rooted. Made by the Farr family. The 2024 Irrewarra is a fascinating expression of cool-climate Victorian Pinot Noir.