First Foot Forward

With an impressive CV that includes Yarra Yering and Coldstream Hills in the Yarra as well as Benjamin Leroux (Burgundy) and Pegasus Bay (NZ), Martin Siebert landed at Tokar Estate as chief winemaker in time for the cracking 2012 vintage, starting his own First Foot Forward (or F3 as he refers to it!) a year later. Mainly sourcing fruit from the marginal Patch vineyard from ’13–’17, Siebert has since sourced fruit for F3 from the Lone Star vineyard at Woori Yallock. He likens himself to a classically trained musician dabbling in punk music, using terracotta amphorae and eggs as well as some skin contact on the whites. That these well-crafted expressions from cooler sites in the Upper Yarra are also well priced is a bonus. -PHILIP RICH