There was no escaping the scorching summer of 2025 in the Yarra Valley. It was a superb vintage for reds and a very good one for whites – provided producers embraced the season rather than trying to tame it. The best wines speak honestly of the vintage, and few do so more convincingly than Dappled.
With this latest release, Dappled has once again delivered one of the strongest value propositions in Australian wine. It’s hard to recall a wine from this estate that hasn’t been utterly delicious, let alone one that hasn’t comfortably exceeded its price point. These are genuine fine wines at battler’s prices.
Chardonnay remains Dappled’s calling card, and 2025 has produced perhaps the most distinctive expression yet. More aromatic and transparent than previous vintages, it places less emphasis on oak and extended élevage, allowing the fruit to take centre stage. The result is a wine of purity and generosity, with a softer, broader palate that beautifully captures the freshness and openness of the vintage. The 2025 Dappled Appellation Chardonnay is the most expressive, inviting and immediately enjoyable release from the estate to date.
If 2025 belongs to any variety, however, it is Cabernet. Dappled’s Tradition Cabernets, sourced from 45-year-old Cabernet Sauvignon and Cabernet Franc vines, is the finest release yet. Greater depth, more mid-palate presence and beautifully integrated tannins give the wine added gravitas, yet it never loses the effortless drinkability that defines the classic luncheon claret style.
My pick of the release, though, is the Gladysdale Lieu-dit Pinot Noir. Fragrant, floral and hauntingly complex, it layers spice, red fruits and savoury nuance over a palate of remarkable poise. Silky and graceful, yet quietly powerful, it glides across the palate with the kind of effortless confidence that only the very best Pinot Noir can achieve.
As always, Dappled occupies a rare place in Australian wine. These are bottles that satisfy the professionals, delight seasoned collectors and, perhaps most importantly, remain accessible to everyday wine lovers. Serious wines, without the serious price tag.
Dappled Appellation Chardonnay 2025
A blend of three vineyards, hence the term “Appellation”. Floral, with white flowers, flinty reduction, roasted cashews, yellow peach and ripe lime. Gorgeous, pure palate. Utterly open and generous, with terrific mid palate flesh, fluffy lanolin wooly texture, spicey wood notes, mustard seed, ginger and scotch finger biscuit. Such an easy drink, less tightly wound this year, the acidity gentle and bracing. Certainly, cellar worthy, but it’s too good now!
Dappled Tradition Cabernets 2025
Dappled’s classic Yarra Valley ‘luncheon claret’ is at its best this year, the warmer vintage lending to a greater fruit intensity, depth and mid palate heft. Effortlessly drinkable? Apso-bloody-lutley! From 45-year-old vines in the warm sub region of Steel’s Creek. Fragrant, with dark fruits, violets, tar, smoke and bay leaf. Textured juicy palate, weighty yet lithe with a line of chalky finessing tannin. Cellar-worthy and effortlessly easy to drink, buy plenty for now and later.
Dappled Gladysdale-Lieu-dit Pinot Noir 2025
My favourite of the 2025’s. Symphonic pinot noir of incredible complexity, tension and balance. Poached English summer fruits, plum, blackberry, baking spices, mixed florals, smoke, compost, lavender tea and wood spices. Everything here is dialed up, yet there is a weightlessness to its power. Pretty, ethereal and vivid. A wine of so many touch points, all brought together by a loosening bodice of silken threads, unravelling for minutes. One of my favorite wines of the year.
Tiny quantities as always this year, hence we’re selling the wines in our exclusive pack only:
