Gembrook Hill
They said that the Gembrook Hill vineyard would never work. They were wrong. The brilliance of the Gembrook Hill wines – chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, pinot noir and sparkling – is so commonly stark that this vineyard has now redefined the Yarra Valley region itself. What once was considered too cold is now often considered the ideal.
The case.
“Read everything you can about Australian pinot noir”, I once wrote, “and then just go out and buy Wanderer and Gembrook Hill.” I grouped The Wanderer with Gembrook Hill because both brands are made by Andrew Marks, and both employ grapes grown in the Upper Yarra. The Gembrook Hill vineyard – sloped, east-facing, planted in 1983 – should be and is marginal, and yet it routinely produces wines of extraordinary quality, commonly in a style best described as ethereal but, less romantically, as light, lacy, structured, complex and long. If there’s a “Wendouree of the Yarra Valley”, the most common contenders would be Yeringberg, Wantirna Estate, Yarra Yering and Mount Mary, all of which are superb producers, sell out in a jiffy, have historical significance, and are hard to procure. But personally, I would nominate Gembrook Hill as that producer. Small, humble, individual, influential – the latter in both approach and in wine style.
Yes, I rate the tiny Gembrook Hill estate that highly.
The wines that carry the case.
Gembrook Hill Pinot Noir 2025 (Yarra Valley): Winefront.
Gembrook Hill J.K.M Pinot Noir 2021* (Yarra Valley): Winefront.
Gembrook Hill I.J.M Pinot Noir 2018* (Yarra Valley): Winefront.
Gembrook Hill Pinot Noir 2012 (Yarra Valley): Winefront.
Gembrook Hill Blanc de Blancs 2012(Yarra Valley): It would stand up in any company, the world over. It tastes of musk and apples and citrus and stonefruit and, much more so, of savoury, floral, umami-like characters. Excuse the poetic flourish, but this wine tastes like a long journey into a furnace of flavour. It tastes like wine, stunning in its undress. It. Well. Basically. It tastes magnificent.
See also [Gembrook Hill: They Said it Would Never Work]
Note. Gembrook Hill produces a wine to honour Ian Marks, named I.J.M Pinot Noir. It also produces a wine to honour June Marks, named J.K.M Pinot Noir.
