Yabby Lake

Yabby Lake was founded in 1998 by Robert and Mem Kirby, who along with the Burke family had co-founded the Village Roadshow entertainment and cinema group in 1954 and built it into one of Australia's largest media businesses. After decades of leading Village Roadshow, the Kirbys turned their attention to wine, identifying the Mornington Peninsula's emerging Burgundian cool-climate identity as a long-term opportunity. They purchased a 50-hectare site at Tuerong in the northern Mornington Peninsula and planted Yabby Lake's first vines in 1998. Early vintages were promising but the estate's reputation accelerated dramatically when Tom Carson joined as chief winemaker in 2008. Carson had spent nearly a decade at Yarra Valley's Yering Station and brought a rigorous Burgundian-trained sensibility to the Yabby Lake project. The Kirby family had also purchased Heathcote Estate in 2006, adding a complementary single-vineyard Shiraz operation in the iconic Cambrian-soil region of central Victoria. Tom Carson serves as chief winemaker across both Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate. The Kirby family's stewardship has remained consistent, with the estate run as a long-term family project rather than a commercial wine investment.

• 1998: Robert and Mem Kirby (Village Roadshow co-founders) planted the first vines at Yabby Lake on a 50-hectare site at Tuerong
• 2006: Kirby family purchased sister estate Heathcote Estate in Cambrian-soil Heathcote, central Victoria
• 2008: Tom Carson joined as chief winemaker after nearly a decade at Yarra Valley's Yering Station; chief winemaker across both estates
• Estate operated as a long-term Kirby family project rather than a commercial wine investment; consistent ownership and direction since founding

Yabby Lake's 50-hectare estate sits at Tuerong in the northern Mornington Peninsula, on undulating land with maritime influence from both Port Phillip Bay and Western Port. Like neighbouring Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate, Yabby Lake is in the cooler northern flats of the peninsula rather than the elevated southern subzones, but the site's gentle topography, varied soil profile, and cooler aspect-driven microclimates have proven exceptionally well suited to Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The vineyard is divided into 33 individual sub-blocks based on soil, aspect, slope, and clonal selection, and each is farmed and vinified separately. Soils across the estate are predominantly sandy duplex over a friable clay subsoil, with significant block-to-block variation in iron content, depth, and drainage. The 33-block structure is central to Yabby Lake's winemaking philosophy: Tom Carson assesses each block's expression separately and selects the most distinguished for Single Block releases (Block 1, Block 2, Block 6, Block 8 have all yielded named single-vineyard Pinot Noirs over multiple vintages). The estate operates on biodynamic and organic principles, with progressive movement toward formal certification across the vineyard.

• 50-hectare Tuerong estate in the northern Mornington Peninsula flats; maritime influence from both Port Phillip Bay and Western Port
• 33 individual sub-blocks farmed and vinified separately; based on soil, aspect, slope, and clonal selection
• Sandy duplex soils over friable clay subsoil; significant block-to-block variation in iron content, depth, and drainage
• Estate operates on biodynamic and organic principles; progressive movement toward formal certification

Tom Carson joined Yabby Lake as chief winemaker in 2008 after nearly a decade at Yarra Valley's Yering Station, where he had built a reputation as one of Australia's leading cool-climate winemakers. Carson's approach at Yabby Lake combined rigorous block-by-block fruit selection with Burgundian winemaking sensibilities: variable whole-bunch fermentation for Pinot Noir, indigenous yeast where possible, reductive lees-driven Chardonnay, and moderate new oak across both varieties. The watershed moment for Yabby Lake came at the 2014 Melbourne Wine Show, when the estate's 2012 Single Block 1 Pinot Noir was awarded the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy. Created in 1962 by the Melbourne Wine Show in memory of wine merchant Jimmy Watson, the Jimmy Watson is Australia's most prestigious red wine award and is given to the best one-year-old red wine in show. Until 2014, no Pinot Noir had ever won the trophy: it had historically been dominated by Shiraz and Cabernet Sauvignon, reflecting the entrenched Australian red wine hierarchy. Yabby Lake's 2012 Block 1 Pinot's victory was a watershed for Australian Pinot Noir on the national stage, and Carson was named James Halliday Australian Winemaker of the Year the same year. Yabby Lake's Single Block releases have continued to attract high critical acclaim across multiple vintages, and the estate is now firmly positioned among the leading cool-climate Pinot Noir producers in Australia.

• Tom Carson joined Yabby Lake 2008 from Yarra Valley's Yering Station; rigorous block-by-block fruit selection and Burgundian winemaking sensibility
• 2014: 2012 Single Block 1 Pinot Noir won the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy, the first Pinot Noir to win this prestigious Australian red wine award
• Carson named James Halliday Australian Winemaker of the Year 2014; coincided with the Jimmy Watson victory
• Yabby Lake Single Block releases continued to attract critical acclaim across multiple vintages; estate now firmly among Australia's leading Pinot Noir producers

Yabby Lake's portfolio is structured around three tiers, each progressively more site-specific. The Red Claw label is the accessible entry-tier, with Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, and Pinot Gris sourced across the broader Mornington Peninsula and named after the native Australian freshwater crayfish (the yabby) that gives the estate its name. The Single Vineyard tier comprises Single Vineyard Pinot Noir, Single Vineyard Chardonnay, and Single Vineyard Pinot Gris, all sourced from the estate vineyard at Tuerong and representing the foundational expression of the Yabby Lake house style. The Single Block tier is the estate's signature: Block 1 Pinot Noir, Block 2 Pinot Noir, Block 6 Pinot Noir, Block 8 Pinot Noir, each from a named individual block within the estate, alongside Single Block Chardonnay releases that vary by vintage. Block 1 is the historic flagship and the block whose 2012 vintage won the Jimmy Watson Trophy; the other Single Block releases reflect the distinct soil and aspect expressions across the 33-block vineyard. Yabby Lake also produces small parcels of cool-climate Shiraz that demonstrate the peninsula's lesser-known specialty in this variety, alongside the Kirby family's sister estate Heathcote Estate Shiraz, which represents the warmer-climate single-vineyard expression from the Cambrian-soil region of central Victoria.

• Three tiers: Red Claw (entry, broader Mornington), Single Vineyard (estate-sourced foundation), Single Block (site-specific flagship)
• Single Block Pinot Noir: Block 1 (Jimmy Watson winner 2012 vintage), Block 2, Block 6, Block 8; each from a named individual block
• Single Block Chardonnay releases vary by vintage; sourced from the most distinguished Chardonnay blocks within the 33-block estate vineyard
• Cool-climate Shiraz: small parcels demonstrating Mornington's lesser-known specialty; complemented by Kirby-owned Heathcote Estate Shiraz from central Victoria

The Kirby family acquired Heathcote Estate in 2006, adding a complementary single-vineyard Shiraz operation in the iconic Cambrian-soil region of central Victoria, approximately 130 kilometres north of Melbourne. Heathcote Estate's vineyard sits on the distinctive 500-million-year-old red Cambrian soils that have given the broader Heathcote region its reputation for full-bodied, ageworthy Shiraz with characteristic plush dark fruit and savoury earthy complexity. Tom Carson serves as chief winemaker across both Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate, and the two estates represent the Kirby family's parallel commitments to cool-climate Pinot Noir on the Mornington Peninsula and warmer-climate Shiraz on Cambrian soils. Yabby Lake's cellar door and restaurant at the Tuerong site is a major destination on the northern Mornington Peninsula wine tourism circuit, anchoring the area alongside Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate. The cellar door offers structured tastings of the Red Claw, Single Vineyard, and Single Block tiers, with the most distinguished current-release Single Block Pinot Noirs available by allocation only. The restaurant offers seasonal Mornington Peninsula cuisine paired with the estate's wines.

• Sister estate Heathcote Estate purchased 2006 by the Kirby family; single-vineyard Shiraz from 500-million-year-old red Cambrian soils in central Victoria
• Tom Carson chief winemaker across both Yabby Lake and Heathcote Estate; parallel commitments to cool-climate Pinot Noir and warmer-climate Shiraz
• Cellar door and restaurant at Tuerong site anchors northern Mornington Peninsula wine tourism alongside Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate
• Single Block Pinot Noirs available by allocation only; restaurant offers seasonal Mornington Peninsula cuisine paired with estate wines