Place of Changing Winds Syrah 'Harcourt' 2023

To understand why the Place of Changing Winds wines are so extraordinary, you must start with a number. At this site, surrounded by forest in the foothills of Mount Macedon, Victoria, Robert Walters has planted Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at up to an astonishing 33,000 vines per hectare. For comparison, the average in Burgundy (on the high side in global terms) is around 10,000.

What does this mean? You might assume that more vines equals more wine - an easy way to boost production. In fact, when vines are this close together, the result is not only much more work, but also severely reduced yields of intensely flavoured grapes. This isn’t about quantity, but quality. The wines made from this fruit have a concentration and minerality that is remarkable, and Place of Changing Winds is pushing the approach further than anywhere else in the world. It’s the cutting edge for handcrafted wine.

This isn’t blind experimentation. Walters knows what it takes to make great wine. Before Place of Changing Winds, he worked as an importer in Melbourne, representing many of France’s top growers (including Olivier Lamy, pioneer of high density planting in Burgundy). His no-compromise approach is informed and inspired by some of the Old World’s leading vignerons. It includes carefully considered organic farming, hand-picking and destemming, and fermentation and ageing in Stockinger barrels. As well as the estate-grown fruit, he works with Rhône varieties from two exceptional 'grower vineyards' further north: Heathcote and Harcourt.

Genuinely pioneering wine producers are rare, but Place of Changing Winds is one of them. The wines are the most exciting in Australia. A limited allocation is available now.