2025 The Wanderer Upper Yarra Pinot Noir | 97 Point Yarra Valley Pinot Noir

🏆 97 HALLIDAY | ONE OF THE UPPER YARRA'S MOST EXCITING PINOT NOIRS

This Is One of the Upper Yarra's Pinot Noir Stars

one of the most compelling premium Pinot Noir releases coming out of the Yarra Valley

97 Points – Halliday Wine Companion
94 Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

Yellingbo, Upper Yarra Valley, Victoria

RRP $62 a bottle

Now this is exciting.

The 2025 The Wanderer Upper Yarra Pinot Noir has just received a spectacular 97 points from Halliday Wine Companion, adding to the 94 points from Campbell Mattinson at The Wine Front.

And at an RRP of just $62, this has immediately become one of the most compelling premium Pinot Noir releases coming out of the Yarra Valley.

The Wanderer is the personal project of Andrew Marks, the winemaker behind his family's celebrated Gembrook Hill vineyard. His philosophy is centred around low-yielding vineyards and minimal-intervention winemaking, with the aim of preserving the natural character of each site.

The 2025 comes from a single vineyard at Yellingbo in the Upper Yarra, planted to MV6 Pinot Noir on free-draining volcanic red soils.

And it is seriously good.

Red and black cherries. Roses. Sweet spice. Autumn leaves. Smoky minerality. Fine tannins.

This is Pinot Noir with perfume and finesse, but the 2025 vintage has given it an extra level of depth and generosity.

97 Halliday points. $62 RRP. That's a combination that's going to get people's attention.

97 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

97 Points – Halliday Wine Companion

That puts the 2025 The Wanderer firmly into elite Australian Pinot Noir territory.

A score of 97 points is significant for any Australian Pinot Noir.

At $62, it becomes even more compelling.

This isn't a $120, $150 or $200 flagship Pinot.

It's a small-production, single-vineyard Upper Yarra Pinot made by one of the region's most talented winemakers at a price that remains remarkably accessible for this level of quality.

For serious Pinot drinkers, this is exactly the kind of wine to buy before everyone else catches on.

Tasting Notes

The 2025 is a deeper and more generous expression of The Wanderer, showing:

• Red cherry
• Black cherry
• Wild strawberry
• Raspberry
• Red roses
• Crushed flowers
• Sweet spice
• Autumn leaves
• Savoury herbs
• Subtle smoke
• Forest floor
• Fine French oak
• Mineral complexity
• Fine, persistent tannins

There's beautiful aromatic purity here.

The red and black cherry fruit is immediately seductive, but then the wine starts to reveal rose petals, spice, autumn leaves and savoury complexity.

The volcanic-soil vineyard gives the wine a distinctive smoky edge, while the fine tannin structure keeps everything beautifully controlled.

It's generous without becoming heavy.

Perfumed without becoming delicate.

Powerful without losing elegance.

That's serious Pinot Noir.

Single-Vineyard Pinot Noir from Yellingbo

This is where the story becomes even better.

The 2025 The Wanderer isn't simply regional Yarra Valley Pinot Noir.

It's a single-vineyard wine from Yellingbo in the Upper Yarra Valley.

The vineyard sits at approximately:

200 metres elevation

with a:

North-easterly aspect

and the vines grow in:

Free-draining volcanic red soil.

The Upper Yarra is one of Australia's great places for Pinot Noir.

Its cooler conditions allow Pinot to ripen slowly while retaining the acidity, perfume and fine structure that make the variety so compelling.

And this particular vineyard is clearly something special.

100% MV6 Pinot Noir

Pinot lovers will appreciate this.

The vineyard is planted to:

MV6 Pinot Noir.

MV6 is one of Australia's most important Pinot Noir clones and has been responsible for some extraordinary wines.

Here the vines are cane pruned and grown on those free-draining volcanic red soils at 200 metres elevation.

The 2025 was another low-cropping vintage, naturally restricting yields and contributing to the additional depth and concentration found in the wine.

And that's something Mattinson specifically noticed.

The 2025 isn't quite as ethereal as some earlier Wanderer releases.

Instead, there's more depth, more fruit and more generosity.

20% Whole Bunch – 80% Whole Berry

The winemaking is fascinating.

The 2025 uses:

20% whole bunches.

The remaining fruit is destemmed but not crushed, allowing the berries to remain whole.

That's a beautifully considered approach.

The whole bunches contribute additional:

Perfume • Spice • Structure • Savouriness

while retaining whole berries helps preserve the purity and brightness of the Pinot fruit.

The fruit then undergoes a cold soak before fermentation in open fermenters.

Wild Fermentation

No cultured yeast recipe here.

The wine undergoes:

Wild fermentation

in:

Open fermenters

with both:

Pump-overs and hand plunging.

That's completely consistent with Andrew Marks' philosophy.

The Wanderer isn't about manipulating wine into a predetermined house style.

It's about allowing an individual vineyard to express itself.

And when you've got a site this good, that's exactly what you want.

11 Months in Large-Format French Oak

After fermentation, the wine spends:

11 months on lees

in:

Large-format French oak

including:

30% new Damy Alliers oak.

The use of larger-format barrels is important.

There's less wine-to-oak surface contact than with traditional small barriques, helping to keep obvious oak flavours in the background.

The oak builds texture, structure and complexity, but it doesn't bury the Pinot underneath vanilla and toast.

The vineyard remains the star.

No Fining. No Filtration.

And Andrew Marks doesn't mess around with the finished wine either.

The 2025 is:

Wild fermented
Matured on lees
Not fined
Not filtered
Estate bottled.

That's the philosophy of The Wanderer in a nutshell.

Great vineyard. Low yields. Minimal intervention.

Then get out of the way.

Andrew Marks – The Man Behind The Wanderer

The Wanderer is the personal label of Andrew Marks, who is based at his family's famous Gembrook Hill vineyard in the Upper Yarra Valley.

That connection matters.

Gembrook Hill has long been one of the benchmark names of the Upper Yarra, particularly for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The Wanderer gives Marks the opportunity to explore other vineyard sites and create wines that reflect his own approach.

And this Upper Yarra Pinot has become one of the signature wines of the project.

For Pinot Noir lovers, Andrew Marks is a name worth remembering.

Why the Upper Yarra Matters

The Upper Yarra is different.

It's cooler and higher than many parts of the broader Yarra Valley, making it particularly well suited to varieties such as Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

At Yellingbo, you've got:

200m elevation
Cool Upper Yarra climate
Free-draining volcanic red soil
Low yields
MV6 Pinot Noir

Put those elements together and you've got the foundation for Pinot Noir with both aromatic intensity and structural finesse.

That's exactly what you're seeing here.

2024 vs 2025 – An Extraordinary Run

The Wanderer is on a serious roll.

The previous 2024 Upper Yarra Pinot Noir received:

97 Points – Halliday Wine Companion
95+ Points – The Wine Front

and won:

Best Pinot Noir – Yarra Valley Wine Show 2025.

Now the 2025 has backed it up with another 97-point Halliday result.

That's significant.

It means we're no longer talking about one exceptional vintage.

We're looking at a producer putting together a genuine run of elite Upper Yarra Pinot Noir.

2024

97 Halliday | 95+ Wine Front

More ethereal • Tense • Perfumed • Electric

2025

97 Halliday | 94 Wine Front

Deeper • Darker • More Generous • Rose • Cherry • Spice

Two very different vintages.

Same extraordinary quality.

Serious Pinot Noir Without the Burgundy Price Tag

This is where the wine becomes particularly compelling.

Anyone who buys Burgundy knows what's happened to prices.

And even the top Australian Pinot Noirs increasingly command $100, $150 and considerably more.

Then look at this:

Single vineyard.

Upper Yarra.

MV6.

Low yielding.

20% whole bunch.

Wild fermented.

Large-format French oak.

Unfined and unfiltered.

97 Halliday points.

RRP $62.

That's a pretty extraordinary package.

Food Pairings

This is a brilliant food Pinot.

Try it with:

• Roast duck
• Peking duck
• Duck breast
• Roast chicken
• Pork belly
• Mushroom and truffle risotto
• Beef tartare
• Venison
• Salmon
• Tuna
• Charcuterie
• Soft cheeses

I'd go straight for duck and wild mushrooms.

The combination of red and black cherry, rose petals, spice and autumnal savouriness would be magnificent.

Serve slightly cool at around 14–16°C in a large Burgundy glass.

Drinking & Cellaring

One of the attractions of the 2025 is its generosity.

Mattinson believes the depth of the vintage makes the wine particularly attractive to drink young, while still expecting it to perform well in the cellar. The Wine Front lists a drinking window of 2026–2031+.

I'd comfortably suggest:

Drink now–2035+.

If you're opening one young, give it 30–60 minutes in a decanter and use a good Burgundy glass.

But with 97 Halliday points and the pedigree of this vineyard, I'd definitely be putting some bottles away.

Why We Love It

This is exactly what we're looking for at Liquid Vibe.

A relatively small producer.

A brilliant winemaker.

A genuinely interesting vineyard.

And quality that massively exceeds what the price suggests.

Look at what you're getting:

🔥 97 Points – Halliday Wine Companion
⭐ 94 Points – The Wine Front
Single Vineyard – Yellingbo
Upper Yarra Valley
MV6 Pinot Noir
200m Elevation
Volcanic Red Soils
Low-Cropping Vineyard
20% Whole Bunches
Wild Fermentation
11 Months Large-Format French Oak
30% New Damy Alliers
No Fining or Filtration
RRP $62

And then there's the wine itself.

Red cherry. Black cherry. Rose petals. Sweet spice. Autumn leaves. Smoke. Savoury complexity. Fine tannins.

The previous vintage was 97 Halliday and 95+ Wine Front and won Best Pinot Noir at the Yarra Valley Wine Show.

Now the 2025 has backed it up with another 97-point Halliday result.

That tells you something.

The Wanderer has become one of the Upper Yarra Pinot Noir producers to watch.

At $62 RRP, the 2025 offers the sort of single-vineyard pedigree, detailed winemaking and critical acclaim increasingly associated with Australian Pinot Noir costing well over $100.

97 Halliday points. 94 Wine Front. Single-vineyard Upper Yarra Pinot Noir. $62.

If you love serious Yarra Valley Pinot Noir, don't miss this.