Winemaker Notes
The wine is sexy, delicate and feisty. The herbal, alpine herb greenery notable among the sluice of red and black cherry fruit, the suede tannins and clip of bright acidity. Time open does wonders for the fruit though, richness and fruitiness comes to the fore. And though jostling around the palate, there is definition in coolness and glass fringes, then building tannin pucker too. Delicious, exciting, captivating, but come to the wine armed with a celebration of the whole bunch.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
Brilliant red. Highly perfumed boysenberry, Chambord, musky earth and floral scents are energized by smoky mineral and spice flourishes. Sweet and penetrating on the palate, concentrated red and blue fruit, spicecake, smoked game and floral pastille flavors become livelier on the back half. Fine-grained tannins lend shape to an impressively long, penetrating finish that emphatically repeats the floral and spice notes.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Made by Taras Ochota's wife, the 2017 Home Pinot Noir features an attractive mélange of aromas ranging from pine and sarsaparilla through to sous bois and a hint of cherries. It's not a particularly fruity wine, instead relying on delicate herb and root nuances to provide interest to the light-framed, silky finish.
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.”
Adelaide refers to the diverse super zone in South Australia containing the Mount Lofty Ranges Zone (Adelaide Hills, Adelaide Plains and Clare Valley), Fleurieu Zone (Currency Creek, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, McLaren Vale, and Southern Fleurieu) and Barossa Zone (Barossa Valley and Eden Valley).
The Adelaide Hills region is distinguished and beautiful, offering a cool respite in the summer for Adelaide city dwellers. With vineyards planted fairly high in elevation at 1,500 to 1,800 feet, it is known for particularly fine, citrus-driven Sauvignon Blanc.
The Adelaide Plains is a hot region northwest of the Adelaide Hills that produces approachable, value-driven wines.