Standing barely two-feet tall, Babydoll refers to the flock of miniature sheep that graze among the vineyards of Yealands Estate. Too short to reach the fruit, these pint-sized organic-weeders provide year round mowing and pest control, plus a handy dose of fertiliser.

Nurtured from the ground up with sustainable practices and produced in a carboNZero certified winery, the pure and intense flavours of Baby Doll wines reflect the winery's innovative thinking in tune with the environment.

Aromatic Dark Cherries, raspberries and spice with underlying forest floor notes, a supple but well-structured pinot with toasted French oak adding complexity and linearity to the palate.

Handpicked Pinot Noir was fermented in small open fermenters with some whole bunches by wild yeast and hand plunged four times a day. The free run juice and pressing were barreled seperately and matured in tightly grained French oak puncheons of 12 months.

So Chester saw a fox untangling itself from the bird netting in the vineyard recently and then discovered clear evidence that said fox had recently helped itself to a fine meal of grapes. Maybe the fox IS a contributing factor to the character of this wine! There is certainly a forest floor note. Equally we can picture wild mushrooms and truffles on the nose. I guess that’s what a fox would smell like.

These earthy tones are wonderfully countered with lovely, fresh, aromatic notes of musk and flowers, raspberry and kirsch. The palate is fine and balanced, driven forward by a lively line of vibrant acid and ending with that familiar d’Arenberg fine, gritty tannin.

The Yarra Valley range is made from handpicked fruit from our estate vineyards. The wines are produced using indigenous yeasts, gravity-flow winemaking, and minimal fining and filtration. This approach produces highly expressive wines, true to the climate, soil and topography of the Yarra Valley.