2017 Yarra Yering Dry Red #1 Yarra Valley 750 ml

Yarra Yering’s Dry Red #1 is rightly revered as one of Australia’s finest bottles. Elegant and poised, it packs Bordeaux-inspired structure and elegance with a touch of Aussie fruit and absolutely mesmerizing complexity. 

Tracking it down stateside, however, has always been maddening: Yarra Yering has changed importers several times, and they’ve long prioritized domestic and European markets over the US. We’d email the winery twice per year to check on this wine’s status, until, FINALLY, we received word they’d signed with a new US importer. We immediately locked down as much of this 98-point 2017 Dry Red #1 as we could.

Adding this to your collection puts you in the company of some of the wine industry’s savviest drinkers. Wine Advocate’s Aussie critic declared “I collect this wine each vintage” in her 97+ point review of this 2017, calling it “one of the great Cabernet blends in Australia.” Yarra Yering’s work has been so outstanding that they earned Australian Winery of the Year honors from Halliday Wine Companion in 2022—the most coveted honor on the continent. 

The 2017 vintage was exceptional in Australia’s Yarra Valley, where Yarra Yering sets the bar. The temperatures there, which are cooler than Napa but warmer than Bordeaux, are pitch-perfect for growing Cabernet. In 2017, the mercury ticked up just a tad more than usual, driving ripeness, while dry weather and cool nights ensured balletic balance.

Nearly seven years after harvest, this is starting to enter a fantastic drinking window, which will easily last another 15 years, if not longer. It will supply a great experience, whenever you choose to indulge.