"The last 10 years have seen De Bortoli become established as one of the largest and most respected family owned concerns in Australia. The company has vineyards and cellar doors in a number of the major regions and boasts over 20 brands including Windy Peak, Gulf Station, Willowglen, and of course the wonderful Noble One.

Their flagship cellar door is in the premium wine growing area of the Yarra Valley. The release of the Yarra Valley Reserve Release range comprising a 2003 Chardonnay, 2003 Pinot Noir and 2004 Syrah marks an important new development for the Yarra Valley winery. A thread of terroir is already apparent in this quite young label. Made in small quantities they are well worth looking for, even at their price point of $40. All three are excellent wines."
Ron Stalenberg, Central Coast Sun Weekly, 10 November 2005

Yarra Valley Reserve Release Pinot Noir 2007
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91 points
"Bright red. Sexy, oak spiced raspberry and cherry on the nose, with a deeper maple note emerging with air. Fleshy and sweet, with deep red berry preserve flavors and musky herbs adding interest. Closes with good spicy bite and very good persistence."
Josh Raynolds - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar,September/October 2008 – Issue 140


Yarra Valley Reserve Release Pinot Noir 2006
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92 points
"Light, bright red. Strikingly complex, seductive bouquet of smoky red and dark berries, minerals and cured meat. Becomes more floral with air, taking on dried rose and white pepper qualities. The sweet redcurrant and dried cherry flavors turn spicier on the sappy, pure, long finish. This reminded me of pinot noir from the northern Cote de Nuits. Attractive now, but should be even better in a few years."
Josh Raynolds - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar,September/October 2008 – Issue 140

94 points
“A fragrant burst of red fruits, spice and some French oak on the bouquet; a lively, complex palate, with an interplay of bright fruit, supple tannins and oak; long finish - all at a modest alcohol.”
James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2009

"...the biggest tasting Pinot. It showed enormous depth behind intense fruit and tasted more of plums than cherries."
Jeff Gordon, Melbourne Times, 30 July 2008

"A first sip, this pinot seems simple. Nice, strawberry fruit, silky tannin... Then, as you swirl the wine in your glass, it slowly reveals stunning undergrowthy complexity and depth. Worth the effort."
Max Allen, Wine, Weekend Australia, 14 June 2008

95 points
"Number four in a portfolio of five, from the most progressive creator of Pinot Noir in Australia, this is an impeccably balanced wine with layers of ethereal red fruits and spice that unravel progressively with every moment spent meditating on its beauty."
Tyson Stelzer, WBM, May 2008

95 points
"It took a good while for this wine (and my opinion of it) to come round so I’d suggest either decanting or leaving it in the cellar for a while. I’m pretty sure Steve Webber is not a graduate of the Decanting Academy for Pinot, more of an adherent to the School of Slosh It Round in a Big Glass (as they do in Burgundy), but never you mind him (or them) as I’m quite correct. I tasted this over a couple of days alongside the Estate Pinot Noir of the same vintage (using big glasses and plenty of sloshing I might add) and the Reserve looked quite similar although it’s clearly a wine of greater depth and subtlety with more acid cut and sharper focus.

It offers a mix of dark plum and cherry, spice, caramel oak and forest floor overtones - a wine of warmth and persuasion. On the palate medium bodied but powerful and muscular with fine firm tannin and distinctly lively acidity providing great shape and structure. Darkly fruited, spicy and slightly bitter with a long expansive finish it’s an engaging wine of vigour and substance, not to mention style."
Gary Walsh, (www.winorama.com.au), 24 May 2008

"Pinot noir can often be deceptively pretty, as this is with its heady aroma laced with savoury notes, but on the palate it's bolder. Refreshing acidity and pinot tanginess meet sweet fruit with just a hint of lovely menthol with soft, smooth, ripe tannins so the wine just glides across the palate."
Jane Faulkner,(janefaulkner(at)winematters.com.au), The Age, 10 May 2008

"Nose takes a moment to open into fragrant summer fruits. Well structured palate with summer fruit, plum and a hint of truffle."
Helen Coburn, ShelfLife (Ireland), November 2007


Yarra Valley Reserve Release Pinot Noir 2005

"This is De Bortoli's top label and it's a cracker of a pinot noir - complex and enticing with its heady earthy-truffle character and damp forest floor notes matched to silky tannins. A deceptive wine, elegant but not a wimp. It keeps opening up, offering more with every mouthful."
Jane Faulkner, The Age Epicure Wine Style, 28 November 2007

"... At the top is the Yarra Vally reserve, a complex wine with Valley pinot hallmark features: sweet succulent fruit, medium-bodied, fine tannins, soft silky texture. Some years you'll see a more edgy savouriness."
Sydney Morning Herald, 24 November 2007

90 points
"From the oldest estate vines, about 35 years old. 250 cases made. Spicy, carrot top, cherry, floral, strawberry jam, smoky, licorice root aromas. Round, elegant, dry, slightly tannic palate but delicate. Strawberry, celery root, spicy, smoky, carrot top, orange peel, cherry flavours with a bit of vanilla and spice on the finish. Good finesse and length but a bit simple."
Anthony Gismondi, www.gismondionwine.com, 13 September 2007

90 points
"Deep red. Spicy red berry and cherry aromas are complicated by deeper chocolate and espresso nuances. Full-flavored and powerful, with surprising energy to the liqueur-like red fruit flavors. Picks up a note of baking spices on the close. Drink this densely flavored midweight on the young side, ideally with a peppery grilled piece of beef."
Josh Raynolds , Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar ( USA ), July/August 2007

"Complex, ripe berry fruit and a soft, riper set of fleshy Yarra Valley pinot aromas with integrated oak and detailed fruit characters. The palate has a core of crunchy fruit with soft edges, berries and long and even intense red cherry flavours. Impressive layering and shape push deep and wide with plenty of tannins. A majestic, engaging wine that's not for the faint-hearted."
Nick Stock, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, July 2007

Yarra Valley Reserve Release Sauvignon 2008

95 points
"An exercise in restrained varietal character, this is no in-your-face Savvy. It starts out smelling of flint and wild herbs, followed by bracing acidity, crisp apple and nashi pear on the palate. Textural contours build some weight and creamy richness at the back."
Nick Stock, WBM100, November 2008


Yarra Valley Reserve Release Sauvignon 2007

92 points
"Green-tinged straw. Leesy pear and melon aromas are brightened by baking spices and smoky minerals. Juicy citrus and orchard fruit flavors gain weight with air, becoming more melon- and pit-fruity but retaining vibrancy. A complex wine with excellent finishing focus and clarity for its richness."
Josh Raynolds - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar,September/October 2008 – Issue 140

95 points
"A landmark style for Australian Sauvignon, made in a fully fledged complex and textural style. Intense lemon citrus, lemongrass, lightly grilled nuts and gun flint.The palate cascades through in layers of flavour and texture, symphonic yet measured, impeccably balanced and custom made for fine cuisine."
Nick Stock, WBM100, October 2008

96 points
“Very fragrant gooseberry plus hints of apple and citrus on the bouquet; a long palate with great movement and delineation, the focus on pristine fruit, not barrel ferment oak.”
James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2009

Yarra Valley Reserve Release Chardonnay 2007

91 points
"Pale chartreuse color. Pungent citrus and aromas complicated by salty minerals and dried flowers. Juicy orchard fruit and melon flavors pick up anise and bitter lemon pith with air and shut down on the back end. Pretty awkward today but there's clearly a core of concentrated, vivacious fruit here. Finishes with salty, Chablis-like cut and noteworthy length. But a bit youthfully undifferentiated: give this a year or so to knit."
Josh Raynolds - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar,September/October 2008 – Issue 140


Yarra Valley Reserve Release Chardonnay 2006


"Somewhat feral on pouring, this had some meaty, sweaty aromas that morphed into mealy, nougat, roast hazelnut and white peach with airing. It has subtlety and refinement in the mouth, with impressive line and length. Worth ageing."
Huon Hooke and Bob Campbell, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, 1 November 2008

92 points
"Green-edged yellow. Youthful, tightly wound citrus and mineral aromas are complemented by smoky minerals and flowers; smells like Chablis. Sharply etched lime and orange flavors gain depth with air, taking a turn to pear and melon while retaining focus. No fat on this impressive chardonnay. Finishes refreshingly brisk and persistent."
Josh Raynolds - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar,September/October 2008 – Issue 140

94 points
“An understated wine of great finesse, an exercise in texture and structure creating a wholly individual style; tight melon fruit, a touch of apple, and the oak deliberately held to provide texture rather than flavour; cerebal.”
James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2009

88 points
"This wine features an appealing plumpness and custardy texture from lees contactwhile in barrel, but not much in the way of overt oakiness. Instead of toast and créme brûlée, there's more of Chardonnay's citrusy side on display here, ranging from lemon and lime to tangerine."
Joe Czerwinski, Wine Enthusiast, 1 June 2008


"Winemaker Steve Webber has done fascinating things with De Bortoli's Yarra chardonnays. This complex, subtle, persuasive chardonnay has aromas of melon, barley sugar, dusty oatmeal and struck matches. It improves with air into a silky wine with depth finishing dry."
Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age, 20 May 2008

"If I really had to pick only one, this would top the reserve list. A pure chardonnay that's linear, exciting with a line of citrus cutting through the middle. Everything is just so perfectly balanced from the restrained oak, the merest hint of leesy notes, the cidity and freshness. Builds on the palate then lingers long after the last drop has, sadly, finished."
Jane Faulkner,(janefaulkner(at)winematters.com.au), The Age, 10 May 2008

95 points
"I wish I had a lot more time to write about wine and stuff but sadly I don’t. I also wish that this wine came in a magnum because the bugger was gone before I knew it. Oh well parting is such sweet sorrow. Anyway, you might think that these De Bortoli Reserve wines are higher production than they are, so just to put the record straight this is a make of about 250 dozen.

Sophisticated yet slightly wild with a mix of white peach, nougat, citrus and sulphide. On the palate tight and refined with flavours of citrus, nectarine and almond. It’s glossy and lightly creamy yet deliciously dry and flinty all at once - a wine that wins you over with a gentle stroke of the cheek rather than a showy flash of the parts. Finishes crisp, dry and expansive. Fine wine in every sense."
Gary Walsh, (www.winorama.com.au), 27 April 2008


Yarra Valley Reserve Release Chardonnay 2005

 "Extremely tight, mineral-scented Reserve 2005 from their most high-profile neighbour in the Yarra Valley, De Bortoli."
Jancis Robinson, Financial Times Life and Arts, 31 May 2008

94 points
"From one of the most fastidious Chardonnay makers in the country, this is a scintillatingly focused wine with more structure than flavour. Minerally acidity, gravelly structure, grippy phenolics and leesy complexity take it to a level hitherto unknown among most New World Chardonnays."
Tyson Stelzer, WBM, February 2008


"This is a very taut, subtle, reserved chardonnay style with plenty of lees batonnage character but no apparent malo effect. Some roast chicken oak/lees derived character. Nicely reserved, and has good penetration and length."
Huon Hooke, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, 1 November 2007

"Soft apple flavours with hints of lime and lemongrass. Well concentrated and long"
Helen Coburn, ShelfLife (Ireland), November 2007

92 points
"The 2005 Chardonnay Reserve Release needs no excuses. It was barrel-fermented with wild yeasts in older French oak and went through full malolactic fermentation. The wine remained on its lees with stirring every two weeks. It delivers a splendid perfume of toast, butterscotch, hazel nut, green apple and pear in a style reminiscent of a high quality Premier Cru Chablis. Mouth-filling and intense, with outstanding concentration and balance, this attractive Chardonnay should evolve for 2-3 year and drink well through 2017. De Bortoli owns estate vineyards in Riverina, Hunter Valley, and Yarra Valley and produces several tiers of dry table wines in addition to their sweet and fortified dessert wines."
Robert Parkers Wine Advocate #173, October 2007 - Reviewed by Dr Jay Miller

91 points
"Light yellow. Smoky peach, honeydew, orange and mint on the nose, with a deeper vanilla quality. Bright citrus and pit fruit flavors are braced by firm but harmonious acidity that adds brightness to the finish. This chardonnay possesses a very nice interplay of energy and depth, as well as the balance to repay cellaring."
Josh Raynolds , Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar ( USA ), July/August 2007

94 points
"I had the 2005 De Bortoli Estate chardonnay this week in a blind tasting and it looked pretty good. A bit quiet and subdued but also wild and smelly. Not short on personality. This wine looks more urbane and restrained (or at least I think it does at present). Very classy. You could draw parallels with many siblings I am sure. Not that I would suggest such a thing.

Aromas of lemon, honeydew melon, matchstick, hazelnut and nougat. On the palate medium bodied with honeydew melon, lemon pith, mineral and savoury matchsticky flavours. Subdued, refined and polished. Glossy even, but not quite hiding the muscles underneath the fine tailoring. Crisp flinty acidity and a very long almond and citrus finish. A beautiful and fine wine of distinction."
Gary Walsh, Winorama (www.winorama.com.au), 13 July 2007

Yarra Valley Reserve Release Syrah 2006

Outstanding
"Another wine that had a polarising effect. The supporters praised the whole bunch complexity, spicy overtones, length of palate and very fine tannins. Others saw a slight greenness and relatively light palate."
Winewise, 1 October 2008

93 points
"Inky purple. Explosively perfumed nose offers a complex array of deep red, and dark berries, olive, tobacco and flowers. A dead ringer for the northern Rhone on the nose and palate, with sweet blackcurrant and bitter cherry flavors complicated by cracked pepper and candied violet. Slow building tannins add grip to the focused finish, which leaves behind a peppery berry skin flavor."
Josh Raynolds - Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar, September/October 2008 – Issue 140

"The challenge for every winemaker each vintage is to improve on last year, to find ways to continuously coax more complexity from the same patch of vines.The team at De Bortoli are clearly rising to the challenge in spectacular fashion. Mature vines, hand-sorting of the fruit, some whole bunches in the vat and natural fermentation all contribute to this amazing wine's pungent, sweet pepper and blackcurrant aromas, its intense but silky texture and its amazing length of flavour.
Max Allen, Australian Gourmet Traveller WINE, Best Buy Wines, August/September 2008

96 points
“As ever, immaculately crafted with perfect line, length and flow; likewise red and black fruits and quality French oak; a hint of viognier; pefect tannins.”
James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2009

"Winemaker Steve Webber is taking a very different tack in the Yarra Valley, focusing more on textural notes than typical shiraz fruit character to create an intriguing, sensual style in this reserve wine. By playing down the oak and alcohol influence, he arrives at a very complex meld of fruit and spice notes that peek through; white pepper, black olive, cardamom, satsuma plum. Very subtle savoury notes offer more meaty tones than broad chocolate flavours, and even choosing the European name of the grape variety points to the fact Webber is doing something different, where the emphasis is on refined elegance."
David Sly, SA Life, August 2008


"Steve Webber's De Bortoli Yarra Valley Reserve unashamedly salutes France. This has a very north Rhone-like personality. Aromas of spice, plums and earth make a complex, savoury introduction. The palate has lovely silky texture but plenty of structural interest and the lip-smacking, dry finish has perfectly modulated tannins."
Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age, 17 June 2008

"This smells cool, spicy and complex: peppercorn and flinty smoke, blackberry nutmeg and autumn leafy. Tight and flinty in the mouth, with forest berry, pippy juiciness and sinewy, building tannins. Brick-dust tasting and packed with raw raspberry fruit."
Tim White, The Age, 30 May 2008

"A cracker of a shiraz with its spice notes, rich plum and ripe black fruit with hints of coffee-mocha adding more complexity. Medium-bodied, textural and silky on the palate with dusty fine tannins making this a delight to drink. Opens beautifully the longer you leave it either in glass or decanter."
Jane Faulkner,(janefaulkner(at)winematters.com.au), The Age, 10 May 2008


Yarra Valley Reserve Release Syrah 2005

95 points
“Super-elegant, restrained but very complex wine, all the components seamlessly welded together; spicy, savoury notes to the medium-bodied black fruits sustain the long finish, aided by fine tannins.”
James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2009

95 points
"Ignore the initial sulphide smell and you'll find a very tasty, complex, spicy cool-area shiraz beneath. It's meaty but also floral: anything but a simple varietal shiraz. The taste is multi-layered and delicious. Challenging and rewarding."
Huon Hooke, Sydney Morning Herald, 15 July 2008

"[I] loved it for its fragrant cinnamon and candied red fruit... Although the oak was assertive, it was just tucked in enough not to suppress the wine's vibrant palate. The tannins are sturdy yet supple, with a sweetness of fruit that runs through the middle."
Nick Stock, Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine, 1 January 2008

"Classic black olive and plum aromas which follow onto the palate along with firm structure, well judged alcohol and balancing acidity. Lovely, and 2006 is just as good."
Helen Coburn, ShelfLife (Ireland), November 2007

91 points
"Inky purple. Intensely spiced dark berry and cherry aromas are complicated by violet, minerals and cracked pepper; this could pass for a top-end St. Joseph. Sweet dark fruit flavors are braced by zesty acidity and sharpened by exotic Asian spices. Finishes brisk, with a slow-building bitter chocolate quality. Put this away for at least four more years."
Josh Raynolds , Stephen Tanzer's International Wine Cellar ( USA ), July/August 2007

95 points
"I love this wine but it is pushing the style envelope so far that it needs an international stamp! It is unusual for an Australian shiraz to include about 40% whole bunches but it works well here and I think it adds authority to the wine...

Aromas of blackcurrant, raspberry, dark cherry, spice, pepper, game, a hint of capsicum, stalks and pencilly oak. A riot of smells. On the palate just a fraction over medium bodied with blackcurrant, cherry, meat, spice and vanilla flavours. Firm lightly sappy tannins with a fine emery board texture and refreshing balanced acidity. Finishes very long with a slight (but attractive) stalky character. It even gained weight and complexity after being open for a day. It’s a wine that pushes local boundaries and all the right buttons. Controversial perhaps? I find it engaging and ultra-stylish."
Gary Walsh, Winorama (www.winorama.com.au), June 2007

94 points
“A world away from the common impression of Australian shiraz. Bear in mind that I'm talking about a shiraz, but this is minerally, flinty, almost steely on the finish, the whole package rammed tight with tannin and ground spice and bright, dark, cherried fruit. There are notes too of star anise, sap, cinnamon, twigs and smoke, and for distinctiveness in the Australian context it has to be tasted to be believed. It is a Burgundy-styled syrah, in need of ten years in the cellar. Drink 2013-3020.”
Campbell Mattinson, The Winefront Red Issue, April 2007

• Yarra Valley Reserve Release Press Reviews
• Yarra Valley Reserve Release Pinot Noir
• Yarra Valley Reserve Release Sauvignon
• Yarra Valley Reserve Release Chardonnay
• Yarra Valley Reserve Release Syrah