After the 2023 and 2024 harvests yielded significantly smaller crops than usual, Michael Dhillon decided to hold back the former and release the wines from both vintages at the same time.
The '23 and '24 vintages of @bindiwines premium pinot noirs – Block 5, Block 8 and Darshan – will be on sale in June. Swipe to see how @winematters scored the wines, and learn more about this release via our link in bio.
A break in regular programming……Thank you to @therealrvw for this nomination (announcement May 11). In particular, keeping company with Yarra Yering ( @sarah.scarecrow and Andrew George) and @scpannell is very humbling. Back to the vats and barrels…….
Lake House has had a long relationship with Bindi Wines – 40 odd years.
As a part of our commitment to good food and wine, quality over quantity; we cellar vintages of Bindi (alongside other iconic labels) to be enjoyed for years to come.
Recently, our sommelier Claude spent time at @bindiwines with owner & winemaker Michael Dhillon, walking the vineyard and speaking about the philosophy that has shaped one of Australia’s most quietly revered estates. From biodynamic farming and minimal intervention, to the care required to navigate each vintage as the seasons unfold.
As Michael shared: “…because not everyone can have a deep cellar, if you can go to a restaurant and find something that has been cellared well and it’s going to be presented in the best environment, it’s a super rewarding thing for a customer to experience. I always have to remind myself that it’s a rarity, that when it occurs, it’s a special thing.”
It is a sentiment that resonates deeply with us at Lake House, where wine has always been part of the wider experience of hospitality. Quality of product, a commitment to service, knowledge and longevity.
As Claude pointed out upon this visit, “À bon vin point d’enseigne” — good wine needs no signage. And in the case of Bindi, no introduction at all; it speaks for itself.
On Sunday 14 June, we welcome Michael back to Lake House for our annual Bindi Wine Lunch, an intimate afternoon of exceptional wines, thoughtful conversation and a multi-course menu beside the lake.
A limited number of places are available.
Reserve your place via the link in bio.
There are wines that are so rare you only get small quantities, there are also wines I buy direct from vineyard because I don’t like the wine company that represents them, and then there are wines I buy via auction or via a great industry friend down south, I’m always paying slightly more and sometimes you the consumer can often get it cheaper than I can wholesale.
A friend sent me their list offer from a great winery a month ago and I almost died because it was so much cheaper for them 🤪
But I don’t care, I work really hard to get you different and sought after wines, apart from a very small number of wine reps my happiest relationships are with wineries direct, there’s no middle man and I don’t get treated like a f🌸🌸king dill (and no I’m not talking about the king of all herbs) 🤣
It’s tough out there for small venues (especially women led ones) who want to buy great wine they love and believe in - my advice, go to the winery and learn, not just about the wine but about the people making it, you’ll be surprised but when you remove all the BS you realise these people are just farmers, cultivating grapes, caring for the earth and making something they like to drink and in return we get to enjoy the spoils of their incredibly hard labour.
I’m sorry but could you imagine spending a year growing something and being at the mercy of the weather?! Nah! me either, she’s one pissed off Sheila. 😉
We drank @bindiwines Chardonnay on our wedding night with our bestie Erinn @ngeringa and what an experience of place and terroir - some serious power and elegance 🥰
Always ask for the reserve list at Humble…..
Bindi Pinot Noir 2026. Kaye. So fragrant and spicy. Deeply fruited. Powerful. A statement of resilience in the face adversity. A layered magnificence for us this year and for those to come. A beautiful blessing and exclamation mark on our 2026 season.
The mountain in cloud. Ridiculously lush, green grass. Something, not much, on the vines to make some memories with. A confounding, confronting and confusing season closes out in a day. Hoo-bloody-ray for Kaye!
Michael Dhillon is a true legend of Australian winemaking. Over the last 35 years, he has diligently farmed his land in Victoria’s Macedon Ranges, crafting wines of intense perfume and deliciously savory fruit. I’ve tasted many of the world’s great Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, and few deliver the elegance, complexity, and sheer enjoyment of Bindi. Multiple Bindi wines grace the Langton’s Classification of Australia’s most collected wines.
The Macedon Ranges is Australia’s coolest and highest-altitude mainland wine region. Like many pioneering producers in marginal climates, the Dhillons were told by the “experts” that it would be impossible to ripen grapes on their 170-hectare farm. Thankfully, Michael’s father Darshan ignored that advice, and the family planted their first vineyards in 1988. The long, cool growing season means grapes ripen slowly, building extraordinary fragrance, flavor, and nuance.
Before taking over as winemaker, Michael honed his craft across Europe — working with Alain Graillot in Croze-Hermitage, the Champagne house of Jean Vesselle in Bouzy, and spending four vintages in Tuscany at Tenuta di Valgiano. In the cellar, his touch is famously light: no added yeasts, no fining agents, minimal racking, and long aging on lees in French oak.
These are wines less made than grown.
#wine #bindi #macedonranges #sommelier #wset
Col Mountain Vineyard. An exceptional source of Grenache for dry, aromatic Rosé and brightly fruited, medium weight red wine. As well as age worthy, spicy Shiraz. A beautiful patchwork of blocks on the exceptionally rocky, undulating hillside.
A beautiful Pinot Noir for a beautiful man. The kind and creative artist and restauranteur Allan Wolf-Tasker had many visions and successes. Late in life he glimpsed a run down vineyard at Dairy Flat Farm and with his family and team put in place the steps to bring its potential to fruition. This delicious and pure 2024 Pinot Noir from the vines that caught Allan’s eye is full of energy and interest. It confirms the vinous resurrection that Allan had his eye on and hoped for. It’s a loving testament, one of many, of his gifts to family and community to enjoy and reflect upon.
Wine community. Celebrating safety. After the fire.
Catching up with David in Harcourt to share bottles and hear stories of the pluses and minuses of the terrible fire that traumatised so many recently. The rallying on the day and afterwards of locals and those further afield was heartening to hear. The burned out shells of houses on the drive in was confronting. That the creeping fire was pulled up just meters from David’s front door is a @cfavic miracle.
What a privilege to get my hands on this🍷 Is there a better Pinot producer I think not #pinotnoir #pinotnoirlover #wine #macedonranges #bindi @bindiwines
