Winemaker Notes
Professional Ratings
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Vinous
Lurid ruby-red. Intensely perfumed, mineral-accented red and dark berries, potpourri and Asian spices on the nose, along with suggestions of cola and smoky minerals. At once concentrated and lithe, showing superb energy and focus to juicy raspberry, cherry liqueur and spicecake flavors. A sexy floral note emerges with air and carries through an extremely long, gently tannic finish that leaves behind vibrant red berry and rose pastille notes.
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Wine Enthusiast
Those who like their Pinot on the savory and earthy side will enjoy this wine. Leading with the aroma of charred, salted meat, notes of bright red fruits and herbal bitters quickly follow along. The light-bodied palate is beautifully composed, offering a wealth of fruit and floral flavors, and a long, savory finish. Drink now- 2025. (Editors Choice)
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James Suckling
Ample and fleshy with bright and fresh blueberry and blackberry fruits on the nose. Palate, tannins are concise and contain considerable depth at the finish.
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Wine & Spirits
Tight, lean and persistent, this wine is packed with a rainbow of crunchy berry flavors—the deep purple of black raspberries, the translucent red of currants, the green hue of sour plums. Oak is present, but the fruit is so bright and fresh, the wood does nothing to diminish its clarity. There’s something slightly technical about this wine, precise rather than emotive, which makes it a no-nonsense pinot noir to age.
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Decanter
An intense ripe fruit nose, dried cherries, an a touch of meatiness. Juicy raspberry and plum palate, spicy oak through complex finish.
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Wine Spectator
Vibrant and fresh, with accents of apricot and toasted coconut. Smooth, round flavors of plum and black cherry finish with a toasty vanillin note. Drink now through 2027.
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
Directly south of the city of Melbourne and the Mornington Peninsula wine region, the cool-climate island of Tasmania has earned an honorable reputation as the country’s finest producer of Sparkling Wine. Naturally the region also excels in top quality still wines from Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Riesling, all distinguished because of a high natural acidity. Most of the Tasmania vineyards cluster around the eastern side of the island from north to south.