Bindi with Michael Dhillon
The 2025 Release Chardonnays & Museum Pinot Noirs
“…the nearest thing this country has produced to Chambertin…These are game-changing wines.”
Jeremy Oliver, Wine Selector Magazine, May 2020, ‘The 12 most significant innovators in Australian Wine’
“The [2021] Bindi pinot noirs and chardonnays are the most exciting release of wines I have tasted for quite a while.’
Huon Hooke, The Real Review, February 2023, ‘Exciting new Bindi wines’
“…His wines speak of Macedon and of Bindi, never overworked but with effortless purity and distinctive refinement.”
Jane Faulkner & Tyson Stelzer, James Halliday’s Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year 2022
“Few Australians come closer to the Burgundy model of the vigneron than Michael Dhillon of Bindi…”
Huon Hooke, Decanter, 2012, ‘Australia’s top 10 white wine producers’
Saturday, October 10th
Bindi Wines | Hosted by Owner & Founder, Michael Dhillon
Masterclass: 3.00pm -5.00pm | 12 Wines & Kate Lamont canapés | $95
Private Dinner: 7.00pm - 9.30pm | 12 Wines & 4 Courses | $175
About Bindi Wines
‘Bindi’, 50 kilometres north-west of Melbourne in the Macedon Ranges, is the family property of the Dhillon family. Originally purchased in the 1950s as part of the larger grazing farm ‘Bundaleer’, ‘Bindi’ is a 170 hectare farm of which 7 hectares are planted to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Fifteen hectares are dedicated to managed plantation eucalypts for high grade furniture timber whilst the remainder of the land is maintained as remnant bush land and important indigenous grasslands.
The Bindi vineyard is the fundamental focus of our endeavors. Our vineyard and winemaking philosophy is to seek balance and purity in the expression of our various individual vineyard sites and this philosophy is applied to farming and conservation at ‘Bindi’; the preservation of the natural harmony.
The Bindi labels featured under the link ‘wine styles’ provide some of the stories of people and place that define our endeavour.
Winemaking
…fermentations occur without addition of yeast, yeast nutrient or enzyme. Unsettled Chardonnay juice goes straight to barrel, reds are gently worked, delicate pressing, long lees ageing in French barrels and minimal racking. No fining and restricted filtration regimes are followed. (bindiwines.com)
Michael Dhillon | Owner, Founder & Vigneron
Michael was born in the town of Gisborne (where his family on his mother Kaye’s side have been since 1853) , 55kms north west of Melbourne, and grew up at Bindi, a 170 hectare farm just outside the township. Today he and his family produce chardonnay and pinot from their vineyard at Bindi which Bill and Michael Dhillon established in 1988. Michael served as assistant winemaker to Stuart Anderson from 1991 until 1998 when he assumed full responsibility. Michael learned his craft working with Stuart as well as experiencing vintages in Europe, where he spent time with the Champagne house of Jean Vesselle in Bouzy, with Alain Graillot in Croze-Hermitage and four vintages in Tuscany at Tenuta di Valgiano. During the mid 1990s Michael also worked with John Wade over parts of three vintages when John was establishing Howard Park Winery. Michael’s passion for Burgundy has seen him visit over 100 different domaines over two decades.
James Halliday’s Wine Companion Winemaker of the Year 2022, by Jane Faulkner & Tyson Stelzer
Winemaker of the Year is awarded to the individual whose wines in the Companion this year most exemplify best winemaking practice. It is acknowledged that, even in the smallest winery, credit is never due only to one individual but to a team. In listing each nomination we also recognise and applaud the teams around them.
Conjuring a pinot noir that elicited an almost unanimous vote from the tasting team for best of the year, not to mention another three in the top 12, would be sufficient reason to be named Winemaker of the Year, but there is much more to Bindi winemaker and viticulturist Michael Dhillon.
“His wines speak of Macedon and of Bindi, never overworked but with effortless purity and distinctive refinement.”
A reflective and insightful thinker, Michael embodies a deep and intimate connection with his land, his history and his community. From vineyards planted by his family high in the Macedon Ranges in 1988, he tends to pinot noir and chardonnay, with shiraz sourced from Heathcote.
Michael credits his sympathetic treatment of pinot noir to his predecessor and mentor, Stuart Anderson. A focus on drawing out elegant fruit from distinguished sites calls for gentle and minimal winemaking, which he is constantly fine-tuning and is inspired by regular sojourns to Burgundy. Ferments occur naturally without nutrients or enzymes, and red wines are worked gently, delicately pressed and aged long with minimal racking, no fining and restricted filtration. His wines speak of Macedon and of Bindi, never overworked but with effortless purity and distinctive refinement – a joy to taste and to drink.
The Wine List & Menu
1st Bracket
2025 EPIS Macedon Ranges Chardonnay [New Release}
2025 BINDI Kostas Rind Chardonnay [New Release}
2025 BINDI Quartz Chardonnay [New Release}
2nd Bracket
2022 EPIS Macedon Ranges Chardonnay
2018 BINDI Kostas Rind Chardonnay
ery rich here with attractively flinty, peach and lemon aromas that lead to a powerful and fresh palate with a sleek, fluid and very juicy impression. Great balance. Drink or hold.
93 Points - James Suckling, JamesSuckling.com
2015 BINDI Quartz Chardonnay
Chardonnay planted in 1988, this portion, a third of the plantings, comes from a quartz-rich soil profile at the upper end of the vineyard site. All chardonnay is made by whole bunch press, straight to barrel on solids to ferment (naturally). The wines hang out on lees for nine to ten months, but this wine gets bottled after 16 months. An Australian benchmark and a stellar release. I watched this sing in the glass over hours. Paired well with kingfish crudo and, of all things, foie and sea urchin bruschetta. Succulent, tight, textured and mineral-charged. A wine of stately feel yet high drinkability. It’s faint nougat, citrus, fresh cut young stone fruit, sandalwood in perfume. The palate intense, inwardly concentrated, showcases faint savoury nuttiness, shows some charming ‘puppy fat’ to texture, yet carries delicious flavour across an extraordinary, gently palate-staining length. Finishes with, dare I say, crushed quartz-like feel, and saline acidity. It’s brilliant, lively, so very fine. This is elegance and chardonnay hand-in-hand. Superb.
97 Points - Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Artfully made and finely balanced, this long and beautifully focused chardonnay has a complex, alluring and faintly mineral fragrance of grapefruit, lemon and lemon lifted by scents of wheat flower, citrus blossom and sweet, tight-grained oak. Underpinned by a fine chalkiness, it’s ripe and juicy but tightly contained by a line of lemony acidity that wraps up its excellent length of tangy, translucent fruit. Its finish marries exceptional drive with rare elegance and style..
96 Points - Jeremy Oliver, Oliver’s Wines
3rd Bracket
2025 BINDI Dixon Pinot Noir
2023 BINDI Block 8 Pinot Noir
Ranked #6 of 24 2023 Pinot Noir from Macedon Ranges, The Real Review
Medium-full red with a good tint of purple; the bouquet is reticent at first while soft sweet, darker cherry flavours run through the finely textured and balanced palate. The tannins are firmer than most Bindi pinots and the wine has a more blocky structure, relatively speaking. Good depth of flavour and fine balance. Seems less complex at this early stage, so more time is recommended.
95 Points - Huon Hooke, The Real Review
While the ’23 and ’24 vintages of Bindi’s top wines are being released in tandem due to low yields, it’s so insightful to taste the wines together. Today, I prefer the ’23 of this over the ’24. Tomorrow, who knows? This has morphed into a wine of restraint, perhaps delicacy, yet there’s a certain power and definition, too. The tannins are refined, the palate elegant and the finish long. A delight to drink now and for quite a few years hence.
96 Points - Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
2023 BINDI Block 5 Pinot Noir
Deep-ish red with a good purple tint; black cherry and blackberry aromas, the flavour bold and medium-full in body, with mysterious depths and plenty of tannin making for a more structured pinot. Foresty underbrush characters come with time in the glass. A bigger, more robust and concentrated style for this maker and promises to have a long and rewarding career. It's still emerging at this stage and shows great potential.
97 Points - Huon Hooke, The Real Review
Everything about this wine, I love: its elegance, its precision and definition. It feels light at first but flavours build, the cherries and pips, the sweet nutty spices, the dash of Campari and fleck of fresh herbs. It’s on the lighter side of medium bodied, with superfine, powdery tannins and matching acidity all heading to a lingering finish.
97 Points - Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
4th Bracket
2019 BINDI Darshan Pinot Noir
Medium to light ruby colour with a purple tint. The bouquet is very foresty, spicy, autumn-leafy and almost humus-like, no doubt quite whole-bunchy, but with subtle inflexions of cherry and strawberry. A detailed fragrance, which transfers to the medium-weighted palate. Delicate and delicious, sweet at the core: a gorgeous wine for lighter foods, such as charcuterie or carpaccio. (Darshan was Bill Dhillon's real name. The vineyard was planted in 2014 on a west-facing site to honour Bill) (For release late 2022 or 2023)
95 Points - Huon Hooke, The Real Review
2019 BINDI Block 8 Pinot Noir
Bindi aficionados know the inaugural release of Block 8, off the high-density site planted in ’16, was vintage 2021 – a spectacular debut. Obviously the ’19 and ’20 wines were bottled; having tasted all a few years back, well ’21 was off-the-charts, the others very good but not in the same league or needed more time. However, I loved ’19 then and today. It is riper, fleshier by Bindi standards. It’s perfumed with savoury inputs some forest floor, cherries and pips, a little earthy. Fuller bodied, layers of flavour with plush tannins and decent structure. Aged 16 months in French barriques (50% new) – and the wood has imparted a cedary sweetness and slight green walnut note. Just a bit of seasoning, though.
97 Points - Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion
2019 BINDI Block 5 Pinot Noir
Deep red/purple colour, the rim showing a strong purple tint. The bouquet is fresh and reserved, shy but super-attractive, with subtle dark-fruit nuances and the palate confirms this is a fuller-bodied pinot with firm, tight structure and impressive concentration. The tannins are surprisingly profuse, adding great authority to the wine. Very long persistence. An outstanding pinot which is only just starting to relax in the bottle: I'd give it at least a year or two more. (Block 5 was planted in 1992 and the wine is dedicated to Bindi's mentor Stuart Anderson)
98 Points - Huon Hooke, The Real Review
The Block Five vineyard is about 0.5ha, on a sheltered, north-facing quartz-riddled site. Delicate pressing, wild fermentation, long lees ageing and 15–17 months' maturation in French barrels (around 35% new )and minimal racking. No fining, minimal filtration. This is the finest 2019 pinot noir across all regions that I have I tasted. I bow to its elegance, structure and, indeed, its beauty. It's a perfect amalgam of fragrance, flavour and shape, with the latter bolstered by plush tannins covered in raw silk. There's a vitality, an energy that lifts this – it is a wine unencumbered by obvious winemaking. The site speaks. Time to listen.
97 Points - Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion