Vanguards of the new wave of Yarra Valley winegrowers, Levantine Hill has recently partnered with Nimbility to build their markets and brand across Asia-Pacific.

This super-premium, award-winning winery, whose Estate Syrah was crowned Australia’s Best Red Wine, Best Victorian Shiraz and Best Australian Shiraz, at London’s International Wine Challenge in 2018, today represents one of the Yarra Valley’s most ambitious projects. Now the time is ripe to start developing their export markets as Levantine Hill Estate Director Samantha Jreissati says: “Levantine Hill is excited to be partnering with Nimbility as it expands its footprint across Asia and world markets.”

Founded by Lebanese-born Elias Jreissati and his wife Colleen, legend has it that the couple’s dream project was born in the late 1990’s around a bottle of full-flavoured Rosado they sipped while travelling in Northern Spain. Unable to find a similar rosé wine when they returned to Australia, a “simple” solution came to them: producing it themselves!

What caught their eye was a plot of land that would later become the epicenter of the estate: an elevated hill with close to a 30 degree incline, which experts deemed too steep and too rocky for it to ever be a suitable place for planting vines.

Not discouraged by those odds, and with an unwavering determination, the couple shaped the hill into a state-of-the-art, inverted amphitheater, and had various grape varieties meticulously planted in the Family Paddock blocks that today fan around the hill top. Today, that challenging hill, is the site recognized as the closest thing to Hermitage the Yarra Valley has to offer, a site that will only ever bottle the highest quality wines in impeccable vintages.

Rising from the shores of the Yarra River at 75 meters and peaking at 225 meters above sea level, Levantine Hill vines thrive in looking out over steep clay loam slopes, at similar elevations to the Grand Cru vineyards of Chablis, France. The slopes, amphitheatres, valleys and orientation combine to create a distinct microclimate in each paddock. This, combined with ultra-low yielding vines, creates wines utterly unique in nature that are unable to be replicated anywhere else in the world.

For any remarkable terroir, you need a remarkable winemaker. Paul Bridgeman, a Yarra Valley native, was therefore brought on board in 2013. Paul has worked for decades in Yarra Valley and other Australian wine regions. In 2006, he fulfilled a personal dream by working at the legendary Domaine Jean-Louis Chave in France's Northern Rhône Valley. Bridgeman then gained recognition as one of Australia’s leading winemakers having spent five years as winemaker at Yarra Yering before the quality of the fruit being produced at Levantine Hill lured him in.

Levantine Hill's philosophy of pursuing quality without compromise is a perfect fit with Paul's winemaking values and his passion for small batch winemaking. “Our winemaking style allows each vine parcel to express its own voice from vintage to vintage,” Paul explains. “Our aim is to produce wines of purity, finesse and longevity, befitting our shared vision to truly produce exceptional wines, handcrafted without compromise and elevate Levantine Hill to the pinnacle of Australian wine production.”

“The team at Nimbility is absolutely thrilled to be working with an estate the calibre of Levantine Hill,” says Nimbility Founding Partner Francesca Martin. “Paul’s intricate understanding of the value and contribution that individual sites have on a wine, combined with his incredible talent for blending, has created a range of thought-provoking, evocative wines that rival the best in the world. These are savoury, structured and ageworthy wines that go from strength to strength as they mature. We couldn’t be more excited to be introducing Levantine Hill to Asia Pacific’s most discerning consumers.”

Three ranges make up the current offering. The Coldsteam Guard wines are made from fruit sourced from Levantine Hill’s own vineyards as well as others in the valley. This gives Paul the flexibility to blend wines that are far greater than the sum of their parts. Wines that don’t make it into the Estate or Family Paddocks ranges will form the core of this range, resulting in wines that punch well above their weight for their price.

The wines in the Estate range are all single vineyard wines produced from grapes grown on the Maroondah Highway Estate. The range offers a superb showcasing of traditional wine making techniques and classic French single varietal Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir wines. Since these are also the mainstay varieties on which the Yarra Valley has built its enviable reputation, the Estate range is the truest expression of the Levantine Hill property. Which is why it proudly bears the Estate title. These wines are released three years after vintage, with the exception of the Estate Rosé and Estate Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, which are released within one year after vintage. Like all Levantine Hill wines, the Estate range is handcrafted in small quantities, so the number of bottles of each varietal produced each year is very limited.

The Family Paddocks are the pinnacle of the estate’s offering. After transforming what was once just a steep, rocky hill into the perfect place to grow grapes, Elias Jreissati named each of the blocks of vines after the people closest to his heart – his wife Colleen and daughters Samantha, Melissa and Katherine.

The four wines that are created from the grapes grown in these blocks are all single vineyard wines, inspired by the Grand Cru wines of Burgundy and First Growths of Bordeaux. The Bordeaux blends use the same percentage of grape varieties as traditionally used in the finest domains of Bordeaux.

Colleen’s Paddock Pinot Noir, Samantha’s Paddock Mélange Traditionnel and Melissa’s Paddock Syrah are released five years after vintage, while Katherine’s Paddock Chardonnay is released three years after vintage. These wines are the best of the best and only a limited number of bottles are produced for each label each year.

For more information about Levantine Hill in Asia Pacific, please contact info@nimbilityasia.com

Yarra Valley’s Apex Estate Levantine Hill Sets Its Sights On APAC