Winemaker Notes
Mount Mary Pinot Noir carries Mount Mary Vineyards' hallmark elegance and purity. On the nose there are stewed plums, quince, cherry liquor, sauté mushroom and spice. The palate is rich, decadent, silky and seamless. There are flavors of plum, stewed strawberry, cherries and fine grained toasty oak which will meld with the wine a little more with time in bottle.
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
Bunch-sorted on vibrating tables, Oscillys-destemmed whole berries, 10-14 days on skins, matured 14-18 months in oak (25% new). Not a hair out of place, all the boxes with big ticks. A perfumed bouquet with rose petals and tantalising hints of forest, the vibrantly fresh palate with a diamond-clear stream of red fruits and spices. The length is awesome.
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James Suckling
A complex and attractive pinot that offers bright, vibrant red-cherry aromas with a gently spicy edge, aided by some well integrated oak influence. The palate has quite vivid red-fruit flavors, smoothly aligned tannins and a gently creamy edge to the finish. Bright, tangy resolve with resilient fruit flavors. Delicious.
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.”
As the most important area of wine production in Victoria today, the Yarra Valley is most popular for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which account for over half of vineyard acreage. A gentle, rolling and rural region alongside the Margaret River, the Yarra Valley has a cool maritime climate with a lengthy growing season, perfect for these cool-climate varieties.
Two styles of Pinot Noir are possible here. The warmer Lower Yarra Valley with sandy, loam soils, produces plush and fruity Pinot Noir while the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley with soils of young red basalt, produces more angular and mineral-driven Pinot Noir.
Yarra Valley Chardonnay is among the best in Australia. To preserve the floral aromatics and fresh citrus flavors for which this area’s Chardonnay is so appreciated, time in barrel is restrained (though barrel fermentation is common). The best Yarra Valley Chardonnays display brilliant acidity, leesy characteristics, citrus, stone fruit and flavors of ginger and spice.
Shiraz and Cabernet find success in parts of this region as well.