BY FARR

The enigmatic Nick Farr, of Australia's celebrated By Farr winery, is famously reluctant to entertain the wine media or submit samples for tasting. So we jumped at an opportunity to visit the family estate in Geelong to taste some of the country's most sought-after Chardonnay and Pinot Noir

- TOM KLINE

In a small pocket of the far southeastern corner of mainland Australia lies the Moorabool Valley, a lush, cool, undulating oasis etched into a barren, windswept plain about 20 minutes’ drive from the city of Geelong. Once part of the ocean floor, the region was uplifted some 20,000 years ago following millennia of volcanic disruption, resulting in a complex geology of limestone and basalt.

Today, when it comes to capturing this marginal terroir in a bottle, one name stands out: By Farr. Known for disruption of its own, this small-but-mighty producer’s success story is built upon decades of iconoclastic grit, unwavering integrity and fierce determination. ‘I’m never content,’ says Nick Farr, second-generation winemaker and current custodian. ‘I’m always striving for better in the vineyard.’

It’s a sunny spring day, following a week or so of anomalous rain and high, blustery winds. Nick’s ambling along the dirt roads in a white pickup truck, windows down, the valley putting on a resplendent display of luxuriant greens and bucolic majesty. ‘If I lose my edge, we won’t improve,’ he continues earnestly.

There’s a strong sense that contentment has never been a part of the program at By Farr, and Nick is clearly indefatigable in his pursuit of greatness. At times, the essence of his now retired and famously bloody-minded father Gary Farr seems to emanate from him, but in sensibility alone; Nick forms his own opinions and, by all accounts, he can more than hold his own during robust discussions with his father.

BURGUNDIAN LOVE AFFAIR