Helen & Joey Estate – The Beating Heart of the Yarra.  If the spirit of the modern Yarra Valley is excellence in tradition + innovation, Helen & Joey must be the beating heart. In addition to a stunning cellar door, here you will find thoughtful and serious winemakers, committed to producing wines that masterfully express the terroir of the Yarra. All of Helen & Joey’s wines are produced from grapes grown on their own 80 acres, which they crop at two to three tons per acre. While there are winemakers who crop at even lower yields, it remains a stark contrast to the 6+ tons per acre most commercial winemakers get. Lower yields mean higher quality fruit and thus more expressive wines (albeit at much lower volumes for the winemaker).

Helen & Joey are also experimentalists. While they produce the gamut of traditional wine styles, they also pursue new takes on wine. Their Inara Cab Sav, for instance, is produced with minimal oak and no stems! A wine like that won’t age forever, but the fruit expression is clean and amazing. Even more impressive is their Wayward Child endeavour, by which H&J mean to experiment, disregarding cost and expectation, to craft notable wines. Their 2016 “Serendip”, built on co-fermented Cab Sav, Shiraz, and Merlot certainly fits that bill!  While many resist it, innovation in winemaking will define the next era. The folks at Helen & Joey correctly acknowledge that the Yarra Valley has been growing warmer. Accordingly, they intend to replace some of their Pinot vines with varietals such as Cab Franc, Malbec, and Sangiovese. While it would be heartbreaking to think that the Yarra may one day be unable to produce its signature Pinot Noirs and Chardonnays, we are excited to see how adroit winemakers such as Helen & Joey roll with the times.

Helen & Joey is a winery you must visit upon your next return to the Yarra. The cellar door is beautiful, and a tasting on their deck overlooking some of the vineyard is magical if they are not overrun with tourists.