Dhillon by Bindi Col Mountain Grenache Rosé 2022

Why is this Wine so Yummy?

About Bindi

A Bit of Bindi on the Side – An interview with Michael Dhillon of Bindi Wines

Michael Dhillon’s been around the block. Mostly Block 5 & a few others that Bindi planted moons ago. After over a generation of growing grapes and making wines, Bindi, has the reputation of one of Australia’s great Pinot and Chardonnay producers. They aren’t resting on their laurels!

New high density planting are in the ground and will soon bare fruit. The ever present desire to achieve the most delicious wine possible still beats stong in his heart.

Vigneron: Michael Dhillon

Michael was born in the town of Gisborne (where his family on his mother Kaye’s side have been since 1853) , 55kms north west of Melbourne, and grew up at Bindi, a 170 hectare farm just outside the township. Today he and his family produce chardonnay and pinot from their vineyard at Bindi which Bill and Michael Dhillon established in 1988.

Michael served as assistant winemaker to Stuart Anderson from 1991 until 1998 when he assumed full responsibility. Michael learned his craft working with Stuart as well as experiencing vintages in Europe, where he spent time with the Champagne house of Jean Vesselle in Bouzy, with Alain Graillot in Croze-Hermitage and four vintages in Tuscany at Tenuta di Valgiano. During the mid 1990s Michael also worked with John Wade over parts of three vintages when John was establishing Howard Park Winery. Michael’s passion for Burgundy has seen him visit over 100 different domaines over two decades.

The Dhillon Label

This new DHILLON label is a lovely evolution and home for wines that are other than Bindi. Pyrette remains a stand alone single label for delicious, medium weight, fruity and earthy Shiraz. Just the one wine. The new label allows us to enjoy making and offering small parcels of wines as time and inspiration allows. Initially three wines have been made from the fabulous Col Mountain vineyard on the Mount Camel Range in Heathcote; a fragrant, dry and fresh 2021 Grenache Rosé, a berry and spicy 2020 Grenache red and a complex and layered 2015 Shiraz. Fun and games.

The label is a thoughtful derivation of relevance. The DHILLON fonts and the butterfly (Bindi means butterfly in some First Nations language) evolve and transform, symbolising the shifting of eras and activities. The butterfly is endemic to India, Australia and south east Asia. It is found in Delhi, India’s capital, a name that evolved from Dhilli, derived from Dhillon. Ken Cato, friend and identifier of storytelling images, has created this subtle and beautiful label.

As always, the wines are deeply personal and transcend fermented grapes and bottled beverage. The first wines come from Bernadette and Colin Neate’s much loved vineyard that sits on a high and rocky outcrop. It’s a very dramatic and individual site with pockets of vines established across the slope. In the late 1980s we got to know Colin and Bernie as they managed Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in the Macedon Ranges. In 1998 they moved to Heathcote to establish the Colbinabbin Estate vineyard for John and Jenny Davies and a decade later established their own vineyard. Transformation over the decades and here we all are today, friends and colleagues enjoying new projects together, with eyes to the future. Plenty of names, a smattering of tasty wines and lots of good stories.

The Col Mountain Vineyard is a very special site that stamps its fruit and wines with great personality. We have been making shiraz from these blocks for seven vintages and it’s about time we released some! The wines require several years ageing to soften and we have been able to do that patiently in our cellar and now it’s time to offer them up.

In the Winery

The 2022 season

The 2022 season has proven to be incredibly challenging however we now have a cellar full of fabulous barrels of quite a range of wines. The season was wet and humid from the start and the startling rain events continued right to the conclusion of the season. Whilst the green grass, full tanks and full dams were lovely bonuses we would have welcomed some drier and warmer spells! The tougher seasons are certainly very memorable and this just completed harvest will be remembered alongside 1993, 1996, 1999, 2002, 2014 and 2020 in the difficult camp. The test is to make delicious and age worthy wine every year and at this early juncture we feel this has been achieved.

We have, sadly, made considerably less Bindi Chardonnay in 2022 and there is, thankfully, only a little less Bindi Pinot Noir. We have had terrific success with the Heathcote Shiraz and Grenache wines in 2022 and the Rosé already looks quite delicious. We have taken on some wonderful Macedon Ranges fruit from a 1997 planting in the north of the region to produce more under the DHILLON label; Riesling, Chardonnay and another Rosé. Fun and games and delicious wines!

Where in the World is Bindi Wines?

Bindi is in Gisbourne within the Macedon Ranges, one of Victoria’s cool climate wine regions. Look to the north and a little west of Melbourne.