🏆 96 HALLIDAY + SPECIAL VALUE STAR | ONE OF THE GREAT YARRA VALLEY PINOT BUYS

96 Halliday Points for $39 – This Could Be One of the Best-Value Pinot Noirs in Australia

This is seriously good Yarra Valley Pinot Noir at a remarkable price

96 Points & Special Value Star – Halliday Wine Companion

Yarra Valley, Victoria

RRP $39 a bottle

There are wines that offer good value—and then there are wines where you look at the score, look at the price and wonder how on earth they have done it.

The 2025 Medhurst Yarra Valley Pinot Noir is firmly in the second category.

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion.
Special Value Star.
Estate-grown fruit.
Mostly MV6 Pinot Noir.
RRP just $39.

Halliday reviewer Philip Rich called it a delicious wine and highlighted its combination of aromatic red fruits, rhubarb, rose petal and spice with an energetic palate and fine, silky tannins. Halliday's official listing confirms the wine at 13% alcohol and a tasted price of $38.

This isn't simply cheap Pinot Noir that happens to have received a big score.

This is seriously good Yarra Valley Pinot Noir at a remarkable price.

96 Points + Special Value Star – Halliday Wine Companion

96 Points – Philip Rich, Halliday Wine Companion

And importantly:

⭐ Halliday Special Value Star

The phrase that really matters is:

“Medhurst's calling card is in great form.”

That's exactly what this wine has become—one of Medhurst's signature value propositions.

Tasting Notes

The 2025 is incredibly fragrant and immediately appealing, showing:

• Morello cherry
• Raspberry
• Black cherry
• Pomegranate
• Black raspberry
• Poached rhubarb
• Blood orange
• Rosehip
• Rose petals
• Savoury spice
• Fine French oak
• Silky tannins

Medhurst's tasting note describes a deeply coloured Pinot with floral, perfumed aromatics of Morello cherry, pomegranate, black raspberry and sweet rosehip.

The palate becomes darker and more powerful, bringing together raspberry, black cherry and blood orange with plush, silky tannins and fine natural acidity.

It's juicy—but not simple.

Perfumed—but not delicate.

There's real concentration underneath all that beautiful Pinot fragrance.

Mostly MV6 – From Mature Estate Vines

Here's where the value becomes even harder to understand.

The 2025 Medhurst Yarra Valley Pinot Noir is made entirely from Medhurst estate fruit from vines planted around 2000–01.

And the wine is predominantly MV6.

Pinot lovers will know how important that is.

MV6 is one of Australia's great Pinot Noir clones, capable of producing wines with beautiful perfume, savoury complexity and structure.

This isn't inexpensive Pinot assembled from anonymous regional fruit.

It's estate-grown Yarra Valley Pinot from mature vines.

At $39.

5% Whole Bunch – Just Enough

The 2025 contains approximately:

5% whole bunches.

I love that decision.

Whole bunch can bring wonderful perfume, spice and structural complexity to Pinot Noir, but too much can dominate a wine with stemmy or herbal characters.

Here it's used almost like seasoning.

Just enough to lift the aromatics and add another layer of complexity without getting in the way of all that gorgeous red fruit.

French Oak – Around 20% New

The oak treatment is equally restrained.

Halliday records approximately 20% new oak, while detailed production notes from another retailer report eight months in French oak barriques, hogsheads and puncheons, with 18% new oak.

Either way, the philosophy is obvious:

The oak is there to support the Pinot—not dominate it.

That allows the cherry, raspberry, rhubarb, rose petal and spice characters to stay front and centre.

Exactly where they should be.

2025 – An Exceptional Vintage at Medhurst

There's another reason these 2025 Medhurst wines are looking so exciting.

The growing season was very dry, with unusually warm and dry conditions through September and October resulting in the earliest budburst Medhurst had experienced.

Flowering was early, conditions remained favourable and the vineyard team was able to carefully manage the canopy through the season.

Medhurst's assessment of the resulting crop is particularly telling:

The fruit was some of the best they had seen, with excellent quality across the varieties.

Judging by the 96-point result here, Pinot Noir clearly excelled.

Medhurst Is on an Extraordinary Run

If you haven't been paying attention to Medhurst, you should be now.

Halliday Wine Companion ranked Medhurst No. 64 in its Top 100 Australian Wineries, noting the remarkable consistency of the range under winemaker Rohan Smith.

Of eight Medhurst wines reviewed for the 2026 Companion:

Seven received gold-medal scores.

And remarkably:

Seven received Halliday's Special Value designation.

That's an extraordinary strike rate.

And this Pinot Noir perfectly illustrates what Medhurst is doing so well:

serious quality without ridiculous pricing.

Yarra Valley Pinot vs Estate Pinot

Medhurst now gives you two fascinating expressions of Pinot Noir.

2025 Medhurst Yarra Valley Pinot Noir – $39

96 Points Halliday

Perfumed • Juicy • Cherry • Raspberry • Rhubarb • Rose Petal • Silky

2023 Medhurst Estate Pinot Noir – $57.50

95 Points Halliday

More structured • Savoury • Spicy • Complex • Cellar-worthy

And here's the fascinating part:

The $39 Yarra Valley Pinot has actually scored higher.

That doesn't necessarily mean it's the superior wine—they're different expressions—but it tells you just how extraordinary the value is in the 2025.

For everyday premium Pinot drinking, this is incredibly hard to beat.

Serious Pinot Without the Serious Price

Pinot Noir has become expensive.

Really expensive.

Quality Burgundy has moved beyond the reach of many wine drinkers, and even Australia's better Pinot Noirs routinely sit between $60 and $100+.

Then along comes this.

Estate fruit.
Mature vines.
Mostly MV6.
Whole bunch.
French oak.
96 Halliday points.
Special Value Star.
$39 RRP.

That's why this wine stands out.

You don't need to spend $80–$100 to experience genuinely serious Yarra Valley Pinot Noir.

Food Pairings

This is wonderfully versatile.

Try it with:

• Peking duck
• Roast duck
• Confit duck
• Roast chicken
• Pork belly
• Mushroom risotto
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Charcuterie
• Pecorino

Peking duck and pecorino have both been suggested as excellent matches.

I'd go straight for Peking duck.

The cherry, raspberry, blood orange and spice would be fantastic alongside it.

Serve slightly cool at around 14–16°C.

Drinking & Cellaring

This is designed to be delicious immediately.

But don't assume a $39 Pinot can't age.

Philip Rich suggests drinking the wine over the next five to seven years, with Halliday giving a drinking window through 2032.

Drink now–2032.

Young, you'll get that beautiful combination of:

Cherry • Raspberry • Rhubarb • Rose Petal • Spice

With time, expect more savoury, earthy and dried-floral characters to emerge.

At this price, I'd buy enough to do both.

Why We Love It

This might be the best-value wine in the entire Medhurst range.

Look at what you're getting:

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion
⭐ Halliday Special Value Star
100% Medhurst Estate fruit
Mostly MV6 Pinot Noir
5% whole bunches
Around 20% new oak
13% alcohol
RRP $39

Then look at the flavours:

Morello cherry. Pomegranate. Raspberry. Black cherry. Blood orange. Rhubarb. Rose petals. Spice. Silky tannins.

There are plenty of $60, $70 and $80 Australian Pinot Noirs that would be delighted to receive 96 Halliday points.

This one does it at $39.

If you love Yarra Valley Pinot Noir from Giant Steps, Yarra Yering, Oakridge or Coldstream Hills, the 2025 Medhurst Yarra Valley Pinot Noir needs to be on your shopping list.

96 Halliday points. Special Value Star. $39 RRP. This is outrageous value for Yarra Valley Pinot Noir.