Garagiste is one of Australia's brightest cool-climate producers, created by Barnaby Flanders back in 2006. Crafting an impressive range of small-batch Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, Garagiste has a focus on expressing the single-sites and sub-regions of the Peninsula.
While both the Tuerong and Balnarring sites play important roles in the Garagiste story, inevitably it is the Merricks Grove vineyard that stars as the headline act. It was here in 2000, that Barney Flanders first began to cut his teeth as a winegrower. Since day one, he has been in control of every aspect of the Merricks vines - with all the advantages that this brings - and today he governs each step from earth to bottle; still a relatively rare phenomenon in the Australian wine scene.
Barnaby and Cam manage all aspects of the viticulture and winemaking themselves and a shining range of succulent, finely tuned and elegantly crafted cool-climate Pinot Noir and Chardonnay is what results. Garagiste, the main label, is adeptly supported by delicious entry-level wines under the Le Stagiaire banner. Garagiste’s Pinot Noirs have gorgeous texture whilst remaining composed, fresh and absorbingly complex. The Chardonnays, taut and linear as they are, are also immensely satisfying wines from the top-drawer.
