Rivar Ferguson-Mayer

Bloody Hill Villages Coldstream Shiraz 2022

Bloody Hill is a second label developed by Yarra Valley-famed Timo Mayer. The name refers to the Bloody Hill vineyard in Healesville where he first setup shop in 1999. The German-born winemaker has made quite an impression as an eccentric, charismatic, creative mind in the Yarra Valley, celebrating whole-bunch fermentations when they were not yet ‘a thing’. This new label is a collaboration with his son Rivar Mayer Ferguson. With Rivar taking the reins, the name “Mayer” has been dropped from the label of 2021 released wines and moving forward.

The fruit for each wine is selected from various parcels within the Yarra Valley. As an exploration of Yarra Valley's unofficial subregions, they are aptly named “Villages”. The Pinot Noir, for example, is from Coldstream or Panton Hill; the Pinot Gris, from Healesville. There is also a shift in winemaking, with some of the wines fully destemmed (including the Pinot Noir), making for a lusciously fruit-forward quaff.