Mayer is the small Yarra Valley project of Timo Mayer, known for pure, characterful wines from his own Steels Creek hillside site and from selected valley growers. The Sangiovese for the 2024 is drawn from Dixon's Creek in the northern Yarra, a warmer pocket suited to the variety's late ripening. Farming is low-intervention, with an emphasis on retaining aromatic lift and fine natural tannin rather than extraction. Mayer champions Yarra Sangiovese as a serious, terroir-driven alternative to Tuscan examples at the price. The 2024 gives a vibrant, fresh and highly drinkable expression, bright ruby in the glass with red-cherry perfume and lacy, chalky tannins.

The fruit is harvested from Dixon's Creek and fermented entirely with whole bunches, a technique that drives the wine's perfume, spice and silky, fine-boned tannin structure. Wild, minimal-intervention fermentation is followed by maturation in seasoned oak so that fruit and freshness lead rather than oak. The wine shows lifted red cherry, maraschino, cola and blood-orange tang, with the fine 'spaghetti-like' tannins Mayer describes giving structure without weight. It is a lighter, aromatic style of Sangiovese that keeps depth and savoury detail. Precise elevage length is not published and is flagged for verification.