2025 Timo Mayer Syrah

While Timo's Pinots usually hog the spotlight, his Syrah is arguably the best-kept secret in the Yarra Valley. For the die-hard Mayer fans, this is the ultimate "if-you-know-you-know" wine, and often the strongest release in his entire lineup.

Sourced from a tiny parcel on the upper slopes of his Bloody Hill vineyard, the 2025 release is an absolute belter. Fermented with 100% whole bunches, Timo has managed to integrate the stalks so seamlessly this year that they just sit quietly in the background, providing serious structure without dominating the fruit.

Where previous years might have leaned heavily into cracked pepper and spice, this vintage is all about pure, lifted intensity. It leads with a beautiful perfume of blue fruits, Satsuma plum, and mulberries. On the palate, it is long, round, and incredibly delicious, driven by a humming line of acidity. For our money, one of the best cool-climate Syrah wines in this country.

97 points
"A seductive and slightly atypical Mayer shiraz. It's a touch riper than normal with its bouquet of dark cherry, blueberry and warm spices. A totally delicious and fruit-driven wine that will provide a heap of enjoyment over the next decade, if not longer."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points
"Blue fruited, peppery, dashes of Aussie bush, some game meat notes. Supple texture, a fresh, transparent kind of texture with a sheath of light, lithe tannin. Juiciness inherent, pretty fruit characters, quite the stern, Italianate tannin coming mid palate through the finish, and lingers with a saline-pumice stone minerality. Fine wine paradigms"
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)