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Byrne Farm

Pristine, High-country Chardonnay and Pinot Noir from New South Wales

In the mid-nineties, Jeff Byrne was more than content with his life on Canada’s east coast before a chance encounter changed everything. One fine, blue-sky day while on a gap year in Australia, Byrne jumped in a maxi taxi for the short drive from Broadchurch to Surfers Paradise. Sharing the ride that day was a young local gal called Bridgette. The two hit it off, and well, Byrne decided to stick around for a while.

When Bridgette’s work took her to the Hunter Valley, Byrne followed, stumbling into the wine industry. At first, he hit a brick wall before knocking on the door of the newly founded Tower Estate in Pokolbin, which was hiring cellar door staff at the time. “I had no idea who Len Evans was at the time”, laughs Byrne, “Little did I know I would end up working under the Wayne Gretzky of the Australian wine scene” (referring to the Canadian ice hockey legend also known as The Great One).

Seduced by some fantastic bottles from Australia and France and enamoured by the camaraderie in the local winemaking fraternity, Byrne began to earn his stripes. He completed his degree and began stepping his way up the winemaking ladder. In 2007 (a year after Evans’s passing), Jeff made his first, Damascene pilgrimage to Burgundy, landing in the heart of Vosne-Romanée at François Pinault’s Domaine de Eugénie. He would return for the 2014 vintage, by which time he would be heading up the winemaking for the Agnew family’s trio of properties, Audrey Wilkinson, Poole’s Rock and Cockfighters Ghost.

“I was blown away by the potential,” Byrne says of the Orange wine growing region, citing the altitude and the many aspects and microclimates created by the rippling landscape flowing down from Mount Canobolas.

Managing the Agnew portfolio exposed Byrne to a wealth of growers across the breadth of Australia’s wine regions. But there was one source he became particularly excited about: the pristine high-country Chardonnay and Pinot Noir he was getting from Justin and Pip Jarrett’s organic vineyard in Orange. So, in 2019, when the time had come to branch out on his own, he took a trip across the Blue Mountains to look deeper.

A second chance encounter, this time with a farmer in Nashdale, led to the purchase of Glenidle, an old apple and cherry orchard established in the early 1900s on the northern slope of the extinct volcano. At 900 metres above sea level and with rich chocolate/red ferrosol soils, Byrne considers Nashdale home to Orange’s blue-ribbon terroir. His first block was planted in 2020: approximately 2.5 hectares of Pinot Noir with a diverse mixture of clones (777, 115, Abel, 667 and 114) selected for complexity. A further three hectares—Chardonnay with a little more Pinot—are to follow, while the old apple shed will be converted to a winery later this year. When the Glenidle site joins the range, it will sit alongside a small collection of negoce wines sourced from the region’s top growers, which comprise Byrne Farm’s current range.

Currently Available

Byrne Farm Pinot Noir 2023

Byrne Farm Pinot Noir 2023

Certified organic. The Pinot Noir is sourced from the Springvale block, southwest of Orange, just outside the town of Cargo. This is believed to have been the first organic-certified vineyard in NSW and, as with the Chardonnay, the vines are some of the oldest in the region at roughly 30 years. The vineyard comprises Abel and 115 clones on their own roots at an altitude of 820 metres.Byrne has worked with fruit from this site for a dozen years, mainly with the Abel clone, which he prizes for its Christmas spice perfume. The fruit was handpicked, 85% destemmed and sent to three-tonne open fermenters where it cold-soaked for four days, followed by a 10-day ferment on skins. The wine was then lightly pressed to 500-litre oak barrels, where it matured for 10 months (5% new) before blending. The cool vintage has given another Byrne Farm Pinot of impressive purity and drive. Plenty of detail: it’s red-fruited, pretty and refined while having woodsy, spicy depth fringed with savoury, floral lift. There’s a lovely frame here―Jeff leans into texture for Pinot Noir―and some proper flavourful stuffing. 

Byrne Farm Pinot Noir 2023
Byrne Farm Chardonnay 2024

Byrne Farm Chardonnay 2024

Certified organic. After years of working in the region, Jeff Byrne’s little black book of quality fruit contacts in Orange is packed, but he does have his favourites. This is the fifth release of Byrne Farm Chardonnay, and the fruit source has remained the same since year one. For this wine, Jeff works with three plots of almost 30-year-old vines (some of the oldest in the region) within the Balmoral block at Nashdale. Perched on the northeast-facing slope of Mount Canobolas at a lofty 880 metres, these old vines are rooted in volcanic chocolate ferrosol soils. The 2024 season saw a break in the cool trend of the preceding three years in Orange. A warm spring with some well-timed showers meant canopies were full and healthy going into summer. The mercury tipped above 30 degrees a dozen or so times, so picking came earlier with full phenological ripeness – no easy feat in this proper cool climate! The fruit was picked by hand in late February and was gently pressed as bunches to 500-litre puncheons for fermentation. The wine matured for nine months with monthly stirring to build texture and breadth. Malolactic conversion was avoided to preserve the alluring white stone fruit purity in this warmer year. Jeff is delighted with the results. “There’s heaps of flavour, with the hallmark mineral acidity of Orange,” he told us. As is always the case with this talented maker’s wines, there’s serious bang for your buck here.

Byrne Farm Chardonnay 2024
Byrne Farm 'Glenidle Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2023

Byrne Farm 'Glenidle Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2023

This is the first release from Byrne Farm’s Glenidle vineyard in Nashdale, Orange. Years spent as chief winemaker for Agnew Wines gave Jeff Byrne a deep understanding of this genuinely cool-climate region's fruit quality―and untapped potential. So, when it came time for a Byrne family tree change in 2019, Orange was the only consideration. The Glenidle property―originally a working orchard, with some trees still present and productive―sits at 900-950 metres on the north side of Mount Canobolas and is planted to three hectares of Chardonnay and two of Pinot Noir. Jeff put a selection of Pinot Noir clones in the chocolate ferrosol soils: Abel and 115 for colour and structure; 777 and 667 for perfume; and 114 for power and linear drive. In its first year, the yield was a paltry two tonnes―about as uneconomical as you can get! 2023 was the coldest, latest season Jeff can remember, meaning the fruit had plenty of time to hang out on the vine, developing deep, complex flavours. The cool nights and lofty elevation ensured bright natural acidity was maintained. The fruit was handpicked over eight passes in early April. Jeff destemmed almost all of it―he is keen to allow the site to shine with little artifice in these first few years―for fermentation as whole berries in a single 2.5-tonne fermenter. A token 10% bunches were included to boost structural integrity and add woodsy nuance. After eight days with daily plunging, the wine was pressed to 500-litre seasoned French wood for 10 months’ maturation.Glenidle is off to a flying start. This is brightly coloured, with big flavour and powerful structure to carry it. Expect waves of raspberry, red plum and dark cherry with alluring Campari and spice notes around alpine-fresh feel, cinching tannin and driving length. 

Byrne Farm 'Glenidle Vineyard' Pinot Noir 2023
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AT-A-GLANCE

• Canadian ex-pat Jeff Byrne founded Byrne Farm in 2019, high in the hills of Orange.

• Before setting out on his own, Byrne worked at Tower Estate, completed a couple of Burgundy vintages and headed up the winemaking at Agnew.

• Byrne sources Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Shiraz from growers at 800 metres and above in proper cool-climate conditions.

• The range includes straight bottlings of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir and a Pinot Noir/Shiraz blend.

• The Byrne family purchased an old orchard in Nashdale and established a vineyard with the aim of making single-vineyard Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the future.

Country

Australia

Primary Region

Orange, New South Wales

People

Winemaker: Jeff Byrne

Availability

National

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