This is from our 26 year old vineyard and is made from a handful of our 18 pinot clones. It was matured in the French oak that was used for our previous two Reserve pinots, and is designed to have a life of at least five years

Most of you will know that we usually produce two Pinot Noirs – the Estate from a handful of our 15 clones (selections) we manicure at Ashton, and the Piccadilly Valley from the remainder of these clones supplemented by grapes from two of our neighbours. The Piccadilly Valley is the fruitiest and least wooded of the two and, although designed for short-to-medium term drinking, will certainly repay cellaring.

A delicious example of an Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir. Aromas of mushroom, violets and rose petals. Medium weight on the palate with a fine texture and a long, lingering finish. Made from some of the oldest vines in Piccadilly Valley.

Strong purple-red, no sign of development yet; has that unmistakable Ashton Hills stamp of texture missing from almost all other Adelaide Hills pinots; the fragrant bouquet leads with spiced plum that is picked up by the multi-flavoured, multi-textured palate. 95 Points; James Halliday

Stephen George wears three winemaker hats: one for Ashton Hills, drawing upon a 3.5-ha estate vineyard high in the Adelaide Hills; one for Galah Wines; and one for Wendouree. It would be hard to imagine three wineries with more diverse styles, from the elegance and finesse of Ashton Hills to the awesome power of Wendouree. James Halliday Wine Companion 2008

Most of you will know that we usually produce two Pinot Noirs – the Estate from a handful of our 15 clones (selections) we manicure at Ashton, and the Piccadilly Valley from the remainder of these clones supplemented by grapes from two of our neighbours. The Piccadilly Valley is the fruitiest and least wooded of the two and, although designed for short-to-medium term drinking, will certainly repay cellaring. Stephen George

Ashton Hills Vineyard winemaker Stephen George has long been regarded as an early pioneer of the now well-established viticultural site, the Adelaide Hills. Stephen established his 3ha dry-grown Ashton Hills Vineyard in the Piccadilly Valley in the early 1980s and began producing its first wines in 1987. The style reflects the region’s strong similarity to Burgundy and production levels have stayed true to the boutique nature of the winery’s beginnings.

The "Reserve" wine is from our own vineyard, it's currently made from 2 clones and was matured in 100% new French oak. It is designed to be the longest living of our pinots and is best drunk after at least 5 years. We're doing our best to help you adhere to this by releasing it a year after our other two pinots. A youthful purple/red in colour and has a complex nose with fruit already being joined by spice, forest-floor and umami (google it). The oak has added to the wine's structure without swamping its flavours while tannin and mouth watering yet only moderate natural acidity act as a foil for the powerful, silkily textured, sweetly fruited palate.

Crimson is inspired by a love of rate and pohutukawa, New Zealand’s stunning native ‘Christmas trees’. Sales support the work of Project Crimson, the charitable conservation trust whose mission it is to see these tenacious iron-hearted trees planted and protected. Crimson Pinot Noir is produced from our younger vine blocks. It is ready for drinking now, and within two to three years of the vintage while the sweet, ripe black cherry and plum characters are still fresh and vibrant. Underpinning this fruit are the lovely savoury, gamey, pinot complexities. This wine has a rich and well structured palate with smooth, supple tannins.’ Notes from the winemaker, Clive Paton.

This comes from Bannockburn’s famous Serré Vineyard: a 28 year old, dry grown, organically managed, low cropping vineyard that produces this Bannockburn’s very finest Pinot fruit. The Serré Vineyard is close-planted to nine thousand vines per hectare, is trellised low and has narrow rows - replicating the tough vineyard conditions of grand cru Burgundy. Typical yields here are around 500g/vine but they can be half that. In 2006 the yields were so low that it took the fruit of six vines to generate one bottle of wine. The 2006 is simply a cracking example of Serré. In some ways it will go down as an atypical Serré as there is no whole bunch component, but it is unequivocally a great vintage of this wine. It offers a lifted and decadent nose with sweet, primary red fruit and violet notes. The palate has layers of sweet, bright fruit with superb texture, concentration and length. A powerful and very impressive wine.

Bright, clear hue; a very sophisticated Pinot Noir, with red and black cherry, spice, cedar and a little forest floor all seamlessly interwoven on both bouquet and palate; the texture and mouthfeel are admirable. 96 points, James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2011

Glover sums up the 2007 vintage as "hot, dry and out to kill". The whites fared much better but the Serre is a complex, highly perfumed pinot noir full of intrigue. It opens up beautifully, revealing a heady aroma of fungi and damp forest floor, raspberries and stalks then alluring pepper and ginger spice with plenty of tangy cranberry and cherries on the palate. It's restrained but there's an underlying power, with ripe if slightly dry tannins. Totally beguiling. It will be interesting to see how this develops over the next five years, although Serre is drinking well now; Jane Faulkner, The Age

This comes from Bannockburn’s famous Serré Vineyard: a 28 year old, dry grown, organically managed, low cropping vineyard that produces this Bannockburn’s very finest Pinot fruit. The Serré Vineyard is close-planted to nine thousand vines per hectare, is trellised low and has narrow rows - replicating the tough vineyard conditions of grand cru Burgundy. Typical yields here are around 500g/vine but they can be half that.

At Bannockburn Vineyards we believe our vineyards are what make our wines unique and provide a true point of difference. Our viticulture and winemaking aim to showcase our vineyard sites as sympathetically as possible.

Since 2005, Michael Glover has been making the wines at Bannockburn with great diligence and passion. "...everything we do is done with thought and care and without compromising on quality."

Organic practice, a belief in dry-grown viticulture, vine age and close planting combine with wild ferments, use of whole bunches, extended maceration times, extended lees contact and a fastidious barrel selection process to make wines that are exciting, unique and clearly identifiable as "Bannockburn".

Drawing off small batches of the best fruit from our oldest Pinot vineyard, planted in 1978, to produce a stylistically different expression of Pinot Noir.

Bass Phillip is located in prime dairy country near Leongatha in South Gippsland in an area widely known for its regular rainfall pattern. The vineyards have a north-easterly aspect and are planted on deep silty loams with a high iron content, a factor that gives tremendous colour to the fruit.

Phillip Jones is a perfectionist and crops his fruit at incredibly low levels to achieve his objectives in flavour development. Phillip Jones calls his Pinot Noir precocious. He believes strongly in a gentle hand. Racking is kept to a minimum and no pumps are used in the winery. "The difference between good and great Pinot Noir is texture. Wine flows through a pipe like a fast running stream - at speed in the centre and slow on the sides - the sheer force created by the pump just tears the wine apart." Bass Phillip uses a philosophy of low input viticulture and winemaking. Phillip Jones is increasingly employing biodynamic principles in his vineyard. Ultimately his priority is to produce a wine that is completely natural and which expresses vineyard site. This may sound simple, but such a high standard does require a relentless pursuit of perfection – and a degree of madness.

Rigorous triaging of fruit, together with an almost insane passion and attention to detail, has resulted in the most exquisite of Australian Pinot Noirs. The wines have beautiful, black cherry, floral and gamey aromas, supple, velvety tannins, underlying smoky oak and plenty of length. In recent years, he has developed new vineyards to become commercially more comfortable without compromising quality. The market is already embracing the Old Cellar Pinot Noir and Crown Prince Pinot Noir, off relatively young vines. The Reserve Pinot Noir is almost impossible to get, but is arguably the greatest Pinot Noir produced in Australia. These wines are on the fringe of the cult scene and can perform spectacularly well. Andrew Caillard, MW

Phillip Jones has retired from the Melbourne rat-race to handcraft tiny quantities of superlative Pinot Noir which, at its best, has no equal in Australia. Painstaking site selection, ultra-close vine spacing and the very, very cool climate of South Gippsland are the keys to the magic of Bass Phillip and its eerily Burgundian Pinots. James Halliday

After many years developing the finest vineyards across the length and breadth of the apple isle's premiere viticultural precincts, Bay Of Fires can collate parcels from the choicest sites to craft a spectacular construct of Tasmanian Pinot Noir.

Bay of Fires is artfully crafted to achieve the richness and elegance desired by true pinotphiles. The small but highly awarded winemaking team are driven by a philosophy to capture and preserve a tight weave of the distinctive and intense fruit characteristics from individual vineyards within the very bottle. Priority is given to assembling a rich cépage of clones grown to treasured sites along Tasmania’s east coast, Coal River and Derwent Valley. Whole bunch pressing and a separate handling of each parcel right through to completion of ferments builds a wine of great complexity. Time spent in a high proportion of new French barrels infuses the wine with a judicous integration of oak.

Bright red in colour. Complex aromas of sweet strawberries and chinese spice, star anise, cinnamon and plum blossom. Although elegant and supple with a support of fine tannins, the palate shows remarkable length and intensity.

The 2009 season has produced wines of bright flavour and delicacy despite the vintage being generally viewed as rather hot with extreme heat spikes.  Whilst there were certainly some extremely hot days, the summer was not as hot as 2008 and 2010.  We are pleased to report there was no issue with either berry shrivel or smoke taint at Bindi. Flowering however, was not very consistent and the crop ended up being quite a bit smaller than 2008 and 2010.  In the context of the maladies that befell many others, we are very happy with the outcome: superb quality and ‘reasonable’ volume.

It is interesting to look back at our initial notes from April 2009, just two weeks after the fruit was harvested, and see just how accurate the early assessment was:

In 2009 the grapes developed their flavours and overall balance at lower sugar levels than in the past four years and the wines are showing a lot of intensity and drive. I believe they will be less textural as young wines than the pleasure laden 2008s, but will develop very well over the medium term. It is very, very early days but it seems 2009 will yield wines of brightness and verve. The Chardonnays are displaying wonderful, vibrant, mouthwatering grapefruit and nectarine characters and the Pinots have racy red fruit and bright spice with fine, firm tannin drive (the skins were very thick and the berries small). It will be a great feeling when they are in barrel and resting over the winter.

The alluring nose is vibrant and layered and offers red and dark small berries, spice and earth.  The palate is intense and particularly pure. There is complex red berry fruit and a creamy mid palate that then becomes firmer. A long driven finish.  This really is a very seductive Pinot Noir.  Given three to four years it will become even more delicious and should drink beautifully for a decade. Michael Dhillon

Bright, clear crimson-purple, best of the three pinots; opens with dark berry fruit aromas, then a palate with great drive and energy; the texture is complex, as are the flavours, mixing black cherry, plum, spice and forest. Diam. 13% alc. Rating 94 Points; Drink 2018 $50 Date Tasted Mar 10  James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2011

A beautiful vintage offering purity, intensity, complexity, harmony and length. The true nature and quality of the wines will be revealed with half a dozen years in bottle but it is reasonable to say that these wines are very consistent with our usual style and have a deeply satisfying level of fruit and site purity and complexity. Tasting through the wines recently with Stuart Anderson he was compelled to say "These are the best wines Bindi has produced." That places high expectations on the wines. Maybe they will be met, maybe not. Regardless, it was very satisfying to hear and time will tell. One thing these wines have in common is they all have a dramatic level of fragrance that leaps from the glass.

The nose provides bright red fruits (raspberry, cherry and strawberry), beautiful sweetness and perfume with complex earth and mineral elements.  The level of fragrant, Pinot purity is quite wonderful and is enhanced by spicy barrel nuances.  The palate is lavish and textural to begin then has mineral drive and grippy tannins.  It is a balanced, firm and long wine.  There is a delicious combination of flavour, texture and structure. It is a very pleasurable wine now but will be more complex and silky in five years time. This wine spent just under eleven months in barrel, 20% new and was on lees for nine months. Michael Dhillon

Crystal clear shortly after bottling; classic Bindi line, length and balance; a fragrant, scented bouquet, then red and black cherry fruit on the very long palate, the tannins superfine but reassuringly persistent. The wine verges on precosity, and its easy to see why it is released a year earlier than the other Bindi pinots. $55.00; Drink: to 2017; 94 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion

Bream Creek Vineyard is planted on a northeast ridge above Marion Bay on the edge of the Tasman Sea. This gently sloping site, coastal location and maritime influence, create a highly favourable microclimate. Bream Creek wines are hand crafted to capitalise on the stunning flavours that originate from predominantly old vines. The wines are ripe and ready upon release but are built to age. The Pinot Noir in particular is crafted to the most traditional methods, inoculated by wild ferments. These techniques retain delicate flavours with multiple dimensions, palate weight and structure. Bream Creek was matured in a combination of carefully selected new and prior use French oak barriques.

Illustrious Pinot Noir grown to older vines at the lower latitudes of Tasmania's southeast. The idyllic growing conditions deliver outstanding grapes which are vinified by an artisanal team into an elegant, velvety Pinot wine with alluring aromatics and a profound cool climate palate.

Located to the east of Hobart near Marion Bay, Bream Creek, established 1972, is one of Australia’s southernmost vineyards. It produces wines of a finely sculpted, delicate style, dictated by the truly cool growing climate! Chris Shanahan

Bright crimson red. Complex spicy, dark berry fruit and floral aromas, mingle with subtle oak, earth and glace cherry. The palate is seamless and well structured with layers of finely textured flavours. Combined with a touch of forest floor, fine tannins build to great length with a nice firm subtle finish. Have this magnificently versatile, food oriented Pinot wine with meats, salmon or game.

Just released, this is an elegant yet powerful and intense wine with a complex bouquet of white pepper, spicy dark cherry and briars. The palate is well structured, and shows very good fruit depth and intensity with good length and attractive powdery tannins. Still showing the firmness of youth, so responds very well to several hours breathing and being brought to room temperature. Excellent cellar potential.

Quite rich and ripe, there's always a lot on offer in the Bream Creek pinot's; they've proven their ability to age reliably too. The nose carries a wealth of deep cherry fruit aromas, saffron, pouch tobacco, beetroot and sweet, earth aromas, blood plums and spiced plum pudding. The palate's fleshy, more in the dark-plum spectrum; ripe but fine tannins run the entire length and are poised to deliver years of drinking enjoyment. Builds to a big, juicy finish. Score: 96 points; Price: $34; Alc./Vol: 13.6%; Drink: 2016; Screwcap; Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide 2012

Brook Eden vineyard in North East Tasmania is the culmination of a five year search for a vineyard site capable of producing truly exquisite, cool-climate still and sparkling wines. There are only a few such places in the world. Established in 1988 on the banks of Pipers Brook in northeast Tasmania, Brook Eden is nestled in a picturesque valley of rolling green hills. The vineyards are sited along an ancient ridge of deep, gravelly, well-drained, volcanic soil, which runs down to Pipers Brook on one side and a spring-fed, native wetland on the other.

Peter McIntosh and Sue Stuart purchased Brook Eden from Sheila Bezemer in 2004. At 41° south and at an altitude of 160 m it is one of the coolest sites in Tas, and (in the words of the new owners) 'represents viticulture on the edge'. While the plantings remain the same (1 ha pinot noir, 0.75 ha chardonnay and 0.25 ha riesling), yield has been significantly reduced, resulting in earlier picking and better quality grapes. James Halliday Wine Companion

Deep red cherry in colour, medium bodied, with a complex nose of ripe berry fruits and smoky dark chocolate. Raspberries, plums, blackcurrant and dark chocolate fill the palate, with just a touch of firm, ripe tannins to soften over the next year or so. Will benefit from time in the bottle, allowing the nose and palate to open out and develop. This Pinot also exhibits low alcohol from the wild yeast (naturally occurring) ferment we used with this vintage. Cellar for 5+ years. 12% alc/vol.

Farrside vineyard consists of black volcanic soil over limestone on a northeast facing slope.  The vine rows run east/west to shade the fruit from over exposure.  It is made up with a mixture of 114, 115, 777, 667 and MV6 clones.  Even though the Farrside and Sangreal vineyards are only 300 metres apart, the differing conditions means that this vineyard is picked 10 to 12 days after all others.  The darker soils and cooler growing conditions exhibits a more masculine and edgey wine.

A vastly different wine to Sangreal, Farrside is all about masculinity, structure and savoury components.  It has a rich full nose with powerful dark berries which build in the glass.  The palate has some sweetness almost dominated by mineral overtones and soild characteristics, enhanced by toasty oak and fine tannins.  To complete this wine there is a robust structure and a savoury finish.  A full bore Pinot Noir combining density and precision.

If anything, has even more purple shade than the Mornington wine; the density of the bouquet leaves you in no doubt this is an imperious pinot, the palate fully living up to the message from the bouquet, with layer-upon-layer of dark fruits playing tag with the ripe tannins that provide texture and structure on the long finish.  97 Points. James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2012

The Sangreal vineyard is the oldest planting (1994) on a north facing slope which has red ironstone colouring on the surface and a limestone base unlike our other vineyards which are mostly black volcanic soil with heavy amounts of limestone on the surface.  The vine rows run north/south gaining full sun exposure throughout the day resulting in more perfumed, prettier wines and is always the first vineyards to be harvested. 

The Strong purple presence in the glass with the familiar perfume which is Sangreal.  Fine, well integrated fruit of highly complex dark berries and subtle oak influence.  The essence of Pinot Noir from this site is perfume but savoury on the palate, showing strong weight, great length and depth yet seamless in its delivery from front to back.  A very gamey and moreish style of pinot noir that packs a punch with great softness and grace.

Deep purple-crimson; the bouquet has a rich and complex array of dark berry fruits, shifting up a gear on the positively voluptuous palate, which opens strongly and does not back off at any stage. Despite all this, it is a wine of finesse, very different to Farrside. Pinot Noir.  97 Points. James Halliday’s Wine Companion 2012

Clear red-purple; fragrant, spicy red and black cherry aromas flow through to the powerful palate that has more weight than the alcohol indicates, and has time to go. Very stylish label and packaging. Drinking to: 2015; Rating: 90 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion

Bright red colour. Sweet black raspberry, dark chocolate and spicy, exotic oak on the nose. Rich and mouth filling on the palate with cherry and chocolate tones. Deep and round, with supple tannins and great length.

Capanno is located in the Southern Highlands, between Sydney and Canberra. The 3 acre vineyard is situated 1000M above sea level. The ripening days here are hot but the nights are cool. The location combined with the dedication and care that has been put into the small vineyard has allowed them to achieve their dream of producing a wine they could be personally proud of.

Coldstream Hills is the quintessential Yarra Valley Pinot Noir, gentle, complex and developed. A gamey, earthy proposition displaying all the requisite varietal characters, a stylish wine of varietal intensity, fine textures and great length of slowly ripened characters.

Coldstream Hills was established in 1985 by James and Suzanne Halliday. From its initial vintage of 450 cases it has grown to become one of Australia's leading small wineries with a reputation that belies its size. Situated in the cool Yarra Valley, its steep, closely planted vineyards have become a signature of the region. So too have its wines, most notably a Pinot Noir which reflects a clime cooler than Bordeaux and warmer than Burgundy. Hand picked grapes from low yielding vineyards in the Lower and Upper Yarra Valley are vinified to a variety of burgundian handling techniques, including whole bunch fermentation. Matured nine months in a selection of new and seasoned French oak barrels. Approx 14.0% 
 
Medium red with vibrant purple hue. Fragrant cherry and blueberry fruit aromas with underlying gaminess and spice. Toasty oak adds further complexity to the wine's bouquet, but does not dominate. Vibrant fruit characters of cherry, strawberry and blueberry persisit on the juicy palate alongside stalky savoury notes of game, leaf and spice. An elegant medium bodied style with silky tannins and fine length to accompany, venison, hare and duck.

This is from a vineyard in Bannockburn. A dark colour, it has sweet dark fruit aromatics with some jammy, meaty notes. The palate is rich and sweetly textured with a delicious savoury edge to the focused, expressive fruit. An extremely elegant wine. ‘There’s a silky-like sheen that runs through the palate’, says Rod. 92–94/100

Craggy is now the largest producer of Pinot Noir in Central Otago – here are three of the wines they make. These wines were not finished as I tasted them so a range of scores is given for each. All are hand-picked, and then destemmed. Rod says that they have given up on cold soaks. All are fermented with indigenous yeasts and are punched down. This is an extremely impressive line up of wines, showing fantastic fruity purity and quite a bit of elegance, as well as a variation in style that presumably has to do with the vineyard sites – terroir, if you want to use this term. Jamie Good, Wine Anorak

Tight, focused wine with good fruit purity that reveals impressive minerality. The wine has obvious power and energy. It is a taut and vibrant Pinot Noir revealing an array of red fruits plus a suggestion of floral characters. Good cellaring potential. 94 points; Bob Campbell MW

Craggy is now the largest producer of Pinot Noir in Central Otago – here are three of the wines they make. These wines were not finished as I tasted them so a range of scores is given for each. All are hand-picked, and then destemmed. Rod says that they have given up on cold soaks. All are fermented with indigenous yeasts and are punched down. This is an extremely impressive line up of wines, showing fantastic fruity purity and quite a bit of elegance, as well as a variation in style that presumably has to do with the vineyard sites – terroir, if you want to use this term.

From Bendigo, which is a warmer site. Shy on the nose. The palate shows nice purity of dark fruits with a savoury, brooding sort of character. Nice stuff: quite rich, but also reasonably restrained. Rod describes this as a ‘brooding blockbuster’, but says that it is currently ‘closed in on itself’. 91–93/100 Jamie Good, Wine Anorak