The 2004 Yarra Burn Blanc de Blancs is a pursuit of passion and integrity from winemaker Mark O’Callaghan that requires significant commitment, with the all-chardonnay sparkling wine allowed to evolve for five years before it’s first release. Likewise, Susan Kirby and Chantal Dimasi’s artistic approach to fashion with MATERIALBYPRODUCT dictates an impressive dedication.

Dimasi relates the two, “Fashion is a cultural experience that can be shared and enjoyed by many; the experience of wine is akin to this.”

Kirby talks about their source of art for the 2004 Blanc de Blancs, “Hand blotting with liquid paper and texta markers through a variety of lace like templates has informed many MATERIALBYPRODUCT seasons of print.”

The 2004 Blanc de Blancs is a dry sparkling style. The fruit is sourced from select parcels of Yarra Burn’s mature high altitude cold climate and steeply sloped vineyards of the Upper Yarra Valley. This wine exhibits elegant structure, with a refreshing brightness and complex depth and persistence of character. The nose exhibits lifted lemon lime and fresh brioche yeast aromas. The palate is citrus driven with creamy lemon meringue and cashew like characters from the natural breakdown of yeast building character and interest throughout the wine.

With undeniable talent, Susan Dimasi and Chantal Kirby are designing appropriate fashion for our culture, our time and our place (globally). They are answering the questions of sustainability and the relevance of fashion whilst still being conceptual luxurists who are continuing to redefine fashion. Dimasi and Kirby are both inspired and driven by fashion and the challenges of creating fashion that is relevant and beautiful.

In a small old house in Fitzroy, Melbourne Australia, the unique fashion label of intelligent design, MATERIALBYPRODUCT, is working with internationally renowned fashion boutiques and has an impressive following of private clients around the world.

MATERIALBYPRODUCT’s private clients includes singer Bjork who commissioned a beaded Curtain Gown. Bjork said that MATERIALBYPRODUCT’s Curtain Gown “was one of the most beautiful dresses she has ever seen.”

The label is noted for their innovation, and as such won two Premier’s Design Awards for Cultural Fashion Design and Commercial Fashion Design.
            
MATERIALBYPRODUCT have developed their own fashion language, which is unmistakably MATERIALBYPRODUCT. Vogue Australia reported, “at Paris Fashion Week some suggested that the content of the work was ‘art’ and more aligned with Haute Couture than Prêt-A-Porter.”

The Yarra Burn winery was a pioneer of the Upper Yarra over 30 years ago. In fact, it was at Yarra Burn that founders David and Christine Fyffe produced the very first Yarra Valley sparkling. Sparkling wines are still a major focus for Yarra Burn and the many awards they have received certainly attests to their outstanding quality.

Yarra Burn’s high altitude and steeply sloped winery site was affectionately titled “Bastard Hill” by the brave souls who first tended the slopes that the vineyard calls home. “Bitterly cold in winter, continuously lashed by southern winds and brandishing slopes that only a mountain goat would appreciate, Bastard Hill has earned its name for good reason”, says winemaker Mark O’Callaghan.

Before he started his foray into wine through an oeneology course and a few years in McLaren Vale, O’Callaghan studied science at Monash University and was attempting to enter medicine. However, this pre-wine career path was not entirely fruitless, “Turns out my time at Monash wasn't completely wasted, because I met my wife there while we were dissecting cadavers.”

O’Callaghan then came to the Yarra Valley after spending several vintages in Europe between Siciliy and the Wachau Valley in Austria. “These vintages, Austria in particular, are great for giving you a sense of perspective and they make you really think about what you are doing. Similarly though, there are tremendous benefits in spending time in your region and actually 'living' through consecutive vintages. You need time to get a deeper feel for the different sites, what works in which locations and why.”

When it comes to Yarra Burn’s sparkling wines, O’Callaghan says, “The key to quality has to be the amazing fruit resource we have at our disposal in the Upper Yarra. With a climate not unlike that of Champagne, we are very fortunate in the chardonnay and pinot noir available to us.”