Anti-Hero Yeowarra Hill Pinot Noir 2024

Rooibos and roasted hojicha come before the fruit, then a ripe watermelon is cut open somewhere. It smells savoury from the outset, though never too lean or vegetal. 

Yeowarra Hill is important within James Thomas’s story because it sits between two worlds. The four-acre vineyard was planted in 1999, and James has managed it for several years, converting it to organic farming and bringing it under the same broader agricultural philosophy as Heroes. That shift is significant enough that Yeowarra is now moving out of Anti-Hero and into the Heroes hierarchy: for James, the distinction is about his control over the farming. The vineyard lies toward the warmer northern edge of what he considers the  Otways, though it remains markedly cool by broader Victorian standards. 

The 2024 was picked on 13 March, fermented with wild yeast and 10% whole bunch, then matured for ten months in French oak hogsheads, 20% new. What follows is fine-boned Pinot, not built through extraction. The palate is silken, its freshness leading into cranberry, Morello cherry, raspberry and red plum. The red fruit fleshy enough to give generosity but never allowed to become broad, while pepper, rosehip, violet, bay leaf and black tea keep pulling the wine back towards a savoury profile.

Then the earthier register arrives: bark, some forest floor, a faint ferrous edge. The tannin feels fine and chalky rather than forceful, and the florals wants you to bring the glass back to your face. 

At 13% alcohol there is sufficient ripeness for the fruit to feel plush in flashes, yet the wine never loses the cooler outline of the site. Yeowarra sits exactly where James says it does geographically: warm enough within the Otways to flesh Pinot out, still cool enough to keep its bones showing. 

This bottle wasn’t just tasted. I drank it across a few evenings.  

Liinaa Berry

Liinaa Berry is a Melbourne-based wine critic and consultant with over a decade of experience as a sommelier and wine buyer across Australia and around the world where she has built award-winning wine programs and championed independent producers with conviction. Now focused on reviewing and writing, Liinaa brings a floor-trained palate and commercial insight to her assessments. She is also the Melbourne Ambassador for Star Wine List and serves on the committee of Sommeliers Australia. An advocate for site-driven wines and thoughtful farming, Liinaa is particularly drawn to producers who articulate a clear sense of place. Her tasting philosophy centres on structure, balance and context — always asking not just how a wine tastes, but why it matters.