Luke Lambert has a twenty-year history with the Denton View Hill Vineyard, long enough to know the granite slopes like the back of his hand. We’ve seen some terrific wines from this unique site over the years but with due respect, the earlier releases don’t hold a candle to the quality and style of wines the site can produce. By focusing on improving soil health through under-vine cultivation and the elimination of herbicides, Denton’s progressive and time-consuming intervention has paid great dividends; the soils are alive and rich in organic matter, resulting in the kind of pristine, balanced fruit that would have been a pipe dream even a handful of years ago. To the brass tacks, Lambert’s Crudo fruit comes from the lower-lying vineyards where the soils are slightly more fertile, the vines bigger, and conditions generally gentler than on an otherwise tough hill to farm. 2024 was warmer than the preceding few years, resulting in supple, resolved wines with plenty of up-front power. Luke picked the Chardonnay a whisker later than usual. Combined with the warm finish to the season and slow tank ferments with lees in perpetual motion, this has resulted in a typically thirst-quenching, umami-rich wine of depth and detail. The Shiraz also reflects the season, with fewer bunches used to avoid overcrowding the spicy blueberry flavours and fine, granite-derived tannins. Of course, Luke and Rosalind offer an upper-tier Chardonnay and Shiraz (or Syrah, to be precise) for a few dollars more, yet it would be unfair to label the Crudo wines as ‘entry-level’. These wines are handpicked from sustainably grown vines in one of the Yarra’s most singular terroirs and made without any additions or corrections. Both wines buzz with energy, character and place and deserve their billing as two of the Yarra’s smartest bets. We also offer Lambert’s striking Syrah from the excellent 2023 vintage—it’s in a terrific place.