Winemaker Notes
The earthy, spicy nature of our Pinot Noir coupled with the dark cherry fruit characters match perfectly with game meats and Rannoch Farm quail is a delicious Tasmanian product.
2016 was quite a warm, dry year with higher yields than average due to better fruit set. This resulted in a lovely fragrant and floral wine than beautiful soft, silky tannins. This Pinot is a blend of several different clones which adds ghreat complexity. All batches were wild fermented in small open fermenters which were hand plunged daily. The wine was matured in French oak for 9 months with about 20% of the oak being new oak.
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.