Through their love of wine, a friendship between the D’Anna boys and Jordan Lewis evolved from not only drinking great bottles of wine, but also exploring the possibility of working together with select parcels of single vineyard fruit from selected growers and establishing a project that highlighted these regional differences. During this time, a joint friendship with Sam Middleton, evolved and Sam was included in the project.

Franco and Sam have had a long friendship centered around winemaking. Having both spent a considerable portion of their lives growing grapes and making wine in the Yarra Valley, they share a love and appreciation for similar wine styles. When the opportunity to work collaboratively on this winemaking project presented itself they jumped at the chance!

In 2018 we made just one wine: a Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir from a highly respected grower. That wine we think perfectly illustrated the philosophy behind DML VIN and what we are trying to achieve with the wines produced under this label. The first release of DML VIN Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2018 was rated 98 points by James Halliday and listed in his Top 100 Wines for 2019. This wine was also listed in Gourmet Traveller's Top 50 New Releases.

For the 2021 vintage releases, we again have released two single site wines: DML VIN Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2021 and 2021 Upper Yarra Valley Pinot Noir. We are extremely proud of both wines that illustrates the philosophy behind DML: to show regionality and fruit purity with a focus on detail with a savoury earthy edge. These wines are offically released on the 1st of July.

At DML we love the fascination of making wines from different regions. We are fortunate to have access to some exceptional vineyard sites in the Upper Yarra and on the Mornington Peninsula. With respect to our winemaking practices, we choose to keep this very consistent across the two regions and subsequent wines. This, we hope helps to emphasis the region, vineyard and vintage expression in our wines, rather than winemaking footprint.

The Vintage.

The 2021 vintage across both these standout regions was truly remarkable for cool climate varieties such as Pinot noir. The season began with a rather wet spring, providing abundant soil moisture, setting the vines up beautifully leading into the warmer part of the growing season. From December through to the start of April both regions experienced perfect ripening temperatures and well-timed rainfall, leading to one of the best vintages of the last 2 decades. The wines from 2021 are characterised by their detail, exquisite fruit purity, fresh acid and length of flavour.

2021 DML Mornington Peninsula

This wine, in true fashion, is the more brooding, darker fruited, denser of the two wines we make. Pinot noir from the Mornington Peninsula is often so distinctive and it’s our job as winemakers to ensure those unique characteristics shine through in our wines. Plums, sour cherries and a hint of oak are all present on the nose. There are some slightly reductive notes here adding a meaty complexity and earthy tones to the fruit profile. The palate is still tightly wound and taut at present but exhibits impressive intensity and length of flavour that will continue to build with time. Expect this wine to benefit from extended cellaring over the next 5-10 years.

2021 DML Yarra Valley

Of the two wines from ’21 this is perhaps the less obvious but the most detailed. It is always the more bright fruited wine with aromas of poached strawberry, redskin, subtle spice notes and crème caramel. The palate is fine boned, elegant and persistent. The flavours are dominated by primary fruit rather than secondary complexities, but this will shift with time in bottle. It’s delicious now but will greatly benefit from a short stint in the cellar where secondary complexity and palate intensity will increase.

2021 DML Reserve Mornington Peninsula

We are thrilled to be releasing our first Reserve wine under the DML label. Our Reserve wines are made in exceptional vintages, where we believe certain vineyards or particular barrels deserve special recognition. 

The 2021 DML Reserve was produced from the outstanding 2021 vintage, which has already been recognised as one of the truly great Pinot vintages of the last decade. The fruit was grown in a prized Mornington Peninsula vineyard, where we feel very fortunate to have access to a small parcel of fruit. After 16 months of barrel maturation, the three most outstanding barrels from this batch were selected, blended and bottled to produce our Reserve.  

The ‘21 DML Reserve shows elegance, purity and poise. The nose exhibits aromas of cranberry, stewed strawberry and plum along with a hint of well integrated french oak. The palate is defined by the power and intensity of fruit generated from the 2021 vintage. The fruit power is framed by subtle but persistent tannin, adding focus and drive to the exceptional length of flavour. A wine to drink now, or hold for 5-10 years in the cellar.