Winemaker Notes
Glistening ruby-red. Intensely perfumed aromas of fresh red and blue fruits, candied flowers, Asian spices and mocha; suggestions of vanilla and nori build as the wine opens up. Deeply concentrated but lively as well, offering juicy, mineral-laced black raspberry, cherry cola, boysenberry, candied rose and spicecake flavors that show superb clarity and back-end lift. Closes impressively long and precise, with polished, even tannins and resonating floral and spice notes.
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.”
Nestled into the tip of its southeastern coastline, Victoria is Australia’s smallest mainland state, second most populous and third largest wine producer. Victoria includes the cool regions of Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Geelong, made famous mainly by impressive Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.
The more inland Heathcote and Bendigo lead the way for complex and textured, full-bodied reds. Rutherglen’s fortified wines compete among the best on the planet.