Australian wine authority The Real Review has named Yarra Valley winery Yarra Yering the 2024 Winery of the Year in its ranking of the Top Wineries of Australia, three years since it first took the title.
Sarah Crow, Winemaker and General Manager at Yarra Yering shared her excitement about the win.
“To be named The Real Review’s number one top winery for a second time is a tremendous achievement for our small and dedicated team at Yarra Yerring.
“Australia’s top producers are extremely skilled in both viticulture and winemaking and excel at their craft on a global scale. This acknowledgement of quality across our portfolio is reflective of our unwavering commitment to producing wines of exceptional quality and showcasing our distinctive terroir,” she added.
The Real Review Principal Wine Writer and Australian wine critic Huon Hooke congratulated Yarra Yerring on the achievement, which marks the fourth consecutive win for Victorian wineries.
“Achieving Winery of the Year Australia status for the second time is a testament to winemaker Sarah Crowe’s exceptional talent, the hard work of the vineyard team led by Andrew George, and the consistent outstanding calibre of wines that Yarra Yerring deliver year after year,” he said.
“In the 2024 ranking, several of Yarra Yerring’s wines separated them from the pack, including its Carrodus Cabernet Sauvignon 2021, which achieved a jaw-dropping 99 points, its stellar 2022 Chardonnay and its famous Dry Red Wine No 1 Cabernet Blend.”
In the 2024 ranking, the top five was completed by Hesnchke which took second place, Wine by Farr in third place, Penfolds in fourth place, and last year’s winner, Oakbridge, landed the fifth spot.
State-wise, aside from continuing its four-year reign in the Winery of the Year Australia spot, Victoria featured heavily in the results, taking a 26.6 per cent share of the 394 listings, led by the Yarra Valley region.
South Australia also had an outstanding showing, making up 38.1 per cent of the list as the best-performing state, with Barossa Valley leading the regions and scoring the most wineries on the list.
Western Australia achieved a 15 per cent share of the list, while New South Wales took a 12.2 per cent share, contributing 48 out of the 294 wineries, with the Hunter Valley region dominating the state’s share of top performers.
Although Tasmania has a comparatively small total number of wineries when compared with the other states, it still took an 8.1 per cent share of the list made up of 32 entrants.
Speaking about the results, which follow an intensive tasting of more than 10,000 wines over the course of a year by a panel of Australian critics, Hooke said: “Barossa remains Australia’s wine powerhouse, with ten producers making it into the top 50 alone.
“Despite having fewer hectares of vines compared to some other regions, Barossa boasts the most wineries on the list, recognition and tourists. Big reds are the order of the day in this region,” he added.
“In this year’s list, excitement comes not only from the established wineries such as Seppeltsfield, Rockford and Torbreck but also relative newcomers like Eisenstone, Hentley Farm and John Duval Wines.”
This year, just 304 producers received a Top Wineries Certificate, representing approximately 16 per cent of Australia’s wineries.