Winemaker Notes
Although fresh and appealing in its youth, the 2015 will reward cool cellaring for 8-12 years for those looking to enjoy the full complexity of fine Pinot Noir over time.
Try pairing with Peking duck pancakes, or for something different, warm apple pie.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
A fleshy, dark cherry and blackberry-fruited pinot that has attractive freshness and impressive depth on offer. The palate delivers a convincing mix of fluid tannins and rich, long dark berry flavors. Drink now. Screw cap.
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Wine & Spirits
Peter Caldwell blends this wine from his estate vineyards, one in Pipers River, the other in the Coal River Valley, along with fruit from a third site in Upper Derwent. It’s more a delicious cold-coast red wine than a pinot noir, with the crunch of fresh black-cherry skin, the salt of black olives and the spice of cumin and coriander. An Antarctic chill runs through the wine, keeping it fresh. Serve it with grilled octopus.
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.