A Little Bit of Recognition

We’re pretty chuffed to share that Dear Zahra has been included in the Young Gun of Wine Winemaker of the Year Awards.

For a tiny wine label that has mostly been making wines quietly off the radar, it feels pretty special to have the work noticed.

Dear Zahra started with a fairly simple idea: make Pinot Noir that we genuinely want to drink. Fresh, vibrant and full of life, but with enough structure, detail and seriousness to keep you coming back to the glass.

Over the past few years, that idea has taken us from the Adelaide Hills to the Macedon Ranges, through some big changes and plenty of hard work. We’ve worked with growers we believe in, farmed organically, spent a lot of time in vineyards and even more time wondering whether a particular ferment is doing exactly what we want it to do.

We’re still very much learning, experimenting and figuring things out as we go.

That’s part of what makes this recognition feel particularly meaningful. Young Gun of Wine has always been a great supporter of the next generation of Australian winemakers and small producers doing things their own way. To be included amongst this group is something we’re genuinely proud of.

We don’t make wine for awards, but it’s pretty bloody nice when someone notices.

A big thank you to everyone who has supported Dear Zahra along the way, the growers, friends, family, restaurants, bottleshops and, most importantly, the people who keep opening our bottles and telling us what they think.

We’ll keep quietly getting on with it.

More Pinot. More vineyards. More good wine.

And hopefully a few more surprises along the way.