Serrat

Serrat is the family business of Tom Carson (after a 12-year reign at Yering Station, now running Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate for the Kirby family) and wife Nadege Sune. They have close-planted (at 8800 vines per hectare) 0.8ha each of pinot noir and chardonnay, 0.4ha of shiraz, and a sprinkling of viognier. Serrat was devastated by the Black Saturday bushfires in February 2009, the entire vintage destroyed. That is now a nightmare of the past, viticulture and winemaking hitting new heights with the 14 Yarra Valley Shiraz Viognier named 2016 Wine Companion Wine of the Year (from a field of 8863 wines). JAMES HALLIDAY

Serrat is the private wine project of Yabby Lake et al winemaker, wine show boss and influencer, Tom Carson and his wife. From a vineyard planted at almost 9000 vines per hectare. MIKE BENNIE

There are few more credentialled wine minds in Australia than Tom Carson. His resume of winemaking coupled with the intensity and rigour of his approach is impressive to say the least. In most recent years he has become more widely known through his stint at Yering Station as head winemaker and for the last few years at Yabby Lake on the Mornington Peninsula. In both cases he has taken the wine quality to a new level.

However while working on his day jobs over the years he and wife Nadege Sune (herself an accomplished wine pro) found time to plant their own plot in the early 2000s and begin the label Serrat. It would be fair to say that for wine cognoscenti and keen collectors this has now grown to become one of the most anticipated relelases each year, and when James Halliday awarded the 2014 Shiraz Viognier his Wine of the Year with a staggering 99/100 score, that anticipation is now at fever pitch with every ensuing release.

Alongside the Serrat though there are superb renditions of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay in the range as well. Suffice to say though, Serrat is well on its way to becoming a collectable of the Australian wine scene. PWS