The premium brand Métier Wines was established in 1998 by Yarra Valley-based winemaker, Martin Williams.

Métier, from the French, means craft, trade or profession, a combination of approaches to work that encapsulates Martin's outlook on the world of wine: a true blend of art and science, of ideas and their practical application.

Martin Williams: "The primary aim of Métier Wines is to produce small volumes of distinctive wines from parcels of grapes that exhibit particular site-derived characteristics. Although I am aware that terroir is fast becoming an overused term, I believe that a wine's individual geographical provenance, if truly distinctive, is its most fundamental attribute. For wines released under the Métier label, I aim to select batches of grapes from interesting or promising vineyards, applying to them the techniques that I think will suit the style of fruit. The wines are labelled with their individual vineyard designations; I expect them to display common site-derived characteristics from year to year, in spite of vintage variations."

The concept of individual vineyard designation by a single producer has not been explored to any great degree in Australia. The Rothbury Estate's Individual Paddock Semillon and Shiraz wines were ahead of their time in the 1970s, as were the Orlando Steingarten Rieslings. Early Coldstream Hills releases featured vineyard names, but the growing multiplicity of grape sources rapidly made the policy of vineyard designation impossible and irrelevant. Rosemount Estate's Roxburgh, Giant's Creek and other vineyard designations have survived the test of time, and Brokenwood, Jasper Hill and Redbank are three other contemporary Australian examples of the approach.

Martin's aspirations for Métier wines, of small volumes coupled with strength of quality and style, afford him the luxury of keeping different, distinctive batches entirely separate from vineyard to bottle.

"My current inspirations for this concept lie in California, most notably Kistler in the Russian River district, and in Burgundy. Kistler currently produces nine or so vineyard-designated Chardonnays and a couple of Pinot Noirs. Estate-owned and managed vineyards provide a relatively small proportion of the total fruit intake, while long-term agreements with outstanding and conscientious growers ensure a consistent supply of top-grade fruit.

"In Burgundy, the concept of the lieu-dit, or named vineyard, has persisted from the Middle Ages to the present day. A given Domaine may produce up to a dozen separate batches of wine, individually vineyard-designated and consistently showing the attributes of their various sites.

"I believe that we've barely even started to explore the subtle variations among individual vineyard sites here in Australia. I'd like to develop the concept as far as possible, and trust that the market will share my interest in assessing the results."

Scope also exists, however, for the release of broader regional blends in greater volumes, particularly given the current boom in broad-scale plantings across southeastern Australia.

"Kistler, cleverly, has also established broader regional designations (Sonoma Valley, for example) for those parcels of fruit that are better placed in a blended product. It is difficult to deny the pragmatism of this combined approach, and I am more than willing to adopt a similar policy if individual wines from certain vineyards lack the distinctiveness to merit separate designation." In terms of winemaking, Martin applies the techniques that he finds most rewarding, and for which he has become known in premium Australian wine circles. In general, they are techniques aimed towards complexity and harmony on both nose and palate:

"Texture and structure are palate attributes that are often overlooked in favour of primary fruit intensity in Australian wines. While there may be a trade-off between intensity of aroma on the one hand and texture in the mouth on the other, I prefer my own wines to display length, depth, complexity and balance - all hallmarks of true quality in wine. I aim for longevity in my wines; fine and ageworthy wines tend to build intensity of aroma as they mature in the bottle, such that primary fruit and winemaking influences develop in harmony with tertiary characteristics of bottle-age.

"In addition, I would like my wines to complement food, rather than dominate it with overwhelming intensity of fruit or oak character. Traditionally, the 'Old-World' techniques of winemaking have been most

For the production of Chardonnay, Martin employs the range of techniques that is broadly associated with premium styles around the world: whole-bunch pressing; passive juice oxidation; limited juice clarification; full barrel fermentation entirely in French oak, a modest proportion of which is first-use indigenous yeast fermentation; moderate levels of malolactic fermentation; extended (12-13 month) yeast lees contact with limited stirring; and careful fining and filtration as necessary prior to bottling. The whole process is surprisingly 'hands-off' and non-interventionist. The individual techniques are applied in varying degrees, as dictated by the style of each batch of fruit. The results are wines of complexity and finesse, faithful both to their origins and to the influence of the winemaker.

To produce Pinot Noir, Martin again likes to adapt a range of techniques, each one simple in its own right, but leading in combination with the others to a complex product. Varying periods of 'cold-soak'

Métier Wines is growing gradually from small beginnings, as noteworthy parcels of grapes are procured from diverse vineyard sites. The grapes used to produce the wines so far released have been sourced from Tarraford Vineyard in the Tarrawarra subdistrict, owned by one branch of Martin's family, and Schoolhouse Vineyard near Woori Yallock. A Shiraz-Viognier from the Manytrees Vineyard near Flowerdale and minute quantities of Viognier occasionally procured from the Kanumbra Vineyard are two promising wines emerging from the Central Victorian High Country region. Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz from both limestone and granite soils in East Gippsland are likely to appear in due course. The emphasis is on quality, personality and trueness to origin, attributes that take time and care in both vineyard and winery. Martin Williams is convinced of the merits of this approach, and looks forward to unveiling increasing numbers of distinctive, vineyard-designated wines in the years to come.