Nestled in the heart of the Yarra Valley on the fringes of the Toolangi State Forest, this Dixons Creek vineyard sits on a special patch of dirt. Toolangi’s 11.2 hectares of gently undulating slopes lie off the beaten track at the end of a dirt road. It’s a serene and isolated place and it draws you in. Despite its small size and the fact that all Toolangi’s wines are from this single vineyard, it’s home to a wealth of terroirs, giving rise to several different styles and quality levels. Toolangi’s F Block was planted in 2001 on the highest and coolest part of the vineyard, so close to the forest you can almost touch it. It’s a one-acre block and yields approximately 2.5 tonnes per acre. Uniquely for the Yarra, it’s 100% Gingin clone (on its own 20-year-old roots). The poster clone of the Margaret River region, Gingin is not widely found in the Yarra, where Chardonnay plantings are heavily skewed to the workhorse, P58—and some Dijon and Mendoza clones. Gingin’s uneven bunches, referred to as ‘hen and chicken’, make for a powerful, complex style that is dense in flavour and structure. The soils here also have something to say. They are relatively shallow, rockier than the rest of the vineyard and deliver low yields of intensely flavoured fruit complemented by lovely natural energy. Next year will mark Kaspar Hermann’s fifth vintage as chief winemaker, and under his site-first approach—allowing the place and vintage to dictate the result rather than forcing a particular style—the true character of this block is beginning to emerge. Put simply, Toolangi’s F-Block should now be counted among the Yarra Valley’s finest Chardonnay vineyards, and Hermann’s 2021 release has set a new benchmark for this bottling. For more information and the full list of available wines, please visit our Toolangi page.