2024 Yarra Yering Light Dry Red | 96 Point Yarra Valley Red

🏆 96 POINTS | PINOT NOIR MEETS SHIRAZ | PURE YARRA YERING MAGIC

Pinot Noir Meets Shiraz – And It Works Brilliantly

A red that's dangerously drinkable

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion
94+ Points – The Wine Front

Yarra Valley, Victoria

RRP $85 a bottle

This is one of the most fascinating wines in the Yarra Yering portfolio.

The 2024 Yarra Yering Light Dry Red combines two varieties that you rarely see together today—60% Pinot Noir and 40% Shiraz—to create a wine that's fragrant, silky, spicy and incredibly seductive.

It's lighter on its feet than conventional Shiraz but has considerably more structure and savoury complexity than you'd expect from Pinot Noir.

The result?

A red that's almost dangerously drinkable.

And with 96 points from Halliday Wine Companion and 94+ points from Campbell Mattinson at The Wine Front, the 2024 is an outstanding release. Yarra Yering confirms the blend as 60% Pinot Noir and 40% Shiraz, with 13.5% alcohol.

Tasting Notes

Expect a wonderfully aromatic wine bursting with:

• Red cherry and raspberry
• Blackberry and blueberry
• Wild strawberry
• Crushed violets
• Black pepper
• Exotic spice
• Dried herbs
• Subtle smoky complexity

The perfume is gorgeous—violets and mixed summer berries immediately leap from the glass.

Then comes the texture.

It's light and energetic but surprisingly plush through the middle, with Pinot Noir providing perfume, silkiness and spice while cool-climate Shiraz adds structure and drive.

A subtle smoky grip from the use of stalks adds another layer of complexity through the finish.

This is a wine built around fragrance, texture and sheer drinkability.

Critical Acclaim

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion 2026
94+ Points – Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

The Wine Front also gives the 2024 a drinking window of 2026–2034+, highlighting that while Light Dry Red is wonderfully approachable, there is plenty of potential for development in the cellar.

60% Pinot Noir + 40% Shiraz

This unusual blend is what makes the wine so compelling.

60% Pinot Noir
40% Shiraz

The Pinot Noir provides fragrance, red fruits, silkiness and delicate spice.

The Shiraz adds darker fruit, pepper, savoury character and structure.

Put them together and you get a wine that sits somewhere between great Yarra Valley Pinot and elegant cool-climate Shiraz.

And there is a historical precedent for the combination. Pinot Noir and Shiraz blends were once part of the Australian wine landscape, making Yarra Yering's interpretation feel simultaneously traditional and wonderfully unconventional.

Fascinating Winemaking

The two varieties aren't simply thrown into a fermenter together.

They're handled differently to accentuate their individual personalities.

The Pinot Noir is whole-berry fermented in small 600kg fermenters and gently hand-plunged.

The Shiraz undergoes 100% whole-bunch fermentation, remaining untouched for 10 days before being destemmed to complete fermentation as whole berries.

The components then spend nine months in used French oak barriques in Yarra Yering's underground cellar before blending and bottling.

That's thoughtful winemaking designed to maximise perfume and texture rather than extraction or oak.

Yarra Yering Pedigree

Few wineries occupy a more important place in the history of the modern Yarra Valley than Yarra Yering.

Its wines have become benchmarks for the region, and the estate's range includes some of Australia's most collectible reds.

Light Dry Red shows a different side of Yarra Yering.

Rather than the power and longevity of Dry Red Wine No.1 or the intensity of Dry Red Wine No.2, this is about immediate fragrance, silkiness and pleasure.

Yet it still carries the precision and attention to detail expected from this extraordinary estate.

Food Pairings

This is an incredibly versatile food wine.

Perfect with:

• Roast duck
• Chargrilled salmon
• Pork belly
• Roast chicken
• Mushroom risotto
• Charcuterie
• Wood-fired pizza
• Peking duck
• Soft cheeses

And because of its lighter body and vibrant fruit, don't be afraid to serve it slightly chilled.

Around 14–16°C would be fantastic.

Cellaring

Yarra Yering specifically describes Light Dry Red as an early-drinking style, designed to be fragrant and delicious in its youth, while still capable of evolving with suitable cellaring.

The Wine Front suggests:

Drink 2026–2034+.

Personally, I'd struggle to leave this alone for very long. The combination of perfume, freshness and silky fruit is exactly what makes it so appealing right now.

Why We Love It

This is one of those wines that reminds you that great wine doesn't have to be big or powerful.

The 2024 Yarra Yering Light Dry Red is all about perfume, texture and balance.

You get the silk, red fruit and exotic fragrance of Pinot Noir, combined with the pepper, spice and structure of cool-climate Shiraz. The whole-bunch component adds another savoury dimension, while used French oak ensures the fruit remains centre stage.

Then look at the reviews:

96 Points – Halliday Wine Companion
94+ Points – The Wine Front

At RRP $85, this is a brilliant example of why Yarra Yering remains one of Australia's great estates.

If you're a Pinot Noir drinker who wants something with a little more structure—or a Shiraz drinker looking for something more perfumed, silky and elegant—the 2024 Yarra Yering Light Dry Red could be the perfect wine.

👉 96 Points. Yarra Yering. Pinot Noir + Shiraz. Fragrant, silky, spicy and made to drink now — this is dangerously good.