Planted in 1997 on the foothills of the Warramate ranges, the 75 acre Sexton Vineyard covers two north facing ridges that rise from 130 to 210 meters above the valley floor. The vineyard is introducing biodynamic principles with the express purpose of further distinguishing the site and improving grape and wine quality. A particular objective is to enhance the natural microflora for the facilitation of indigenous fermentations in the winery. Above average spring rains mixed with cool sunny days allowed for an even budburst and early uniform flowering. Warm summer days (25 to 30 degC) interspersed with mild rain events harnessed delicate flavours at low sugars and a crisp acid. Careful handling was essential in the vineyard and winery to harness optimum ripeness and quality.

The capriciousness of the difficult, early-ripening Pinot Noir grape makes its expression all the more sublime; but in the Yarra Valley it is given time to develop its seductive labyrinth of aromas, showing bright red fruit notes underscored by earthy complexity. Our Sexton Vineyard Pinot Noir is wonderfully intricate: its focused and fine tannins are assisted by judicious Burgundian oak treatment. The coolest slopes of Sexton Vineyard are planted with five Pinot Noir clones from Burgundy, New Zealand and Australia, managed according to biodynamic principles, providing us with various expressive threads to weave into the final blend.

Trophy - Best Pinot Noir - Royal Queensland Wine Show 2011
Gold Medal - Royal Queensland Wine Show 2011

From the estate vineyard, with seven clones, 10% whole bundhes, remainder destemmed, not crushed (the same for all four wines); five day cold soak, 12 day ferment with minimal plunging; 24% new French oak; 25% one year old; like all four wines, 11 months in oak. A highly fragrant bouquet with cherry and wild strawberry fruit that carries through to the silky palate. Very attractive wine. Presumably the price reflects the higher volume of 1750 dozen. 96 Points; James Halliday, Wine Companion Magazine

A pretty wine, so much so that you almost want to cuddle it. Sweet red fruit and choc-vanilla, spice and a touch of smoky undergrowth. It’s soft and full with squishy red cherry, balanced non-invasive acidity and supple fine grained tannin that spreads out on the finish. Has complexity and it drinks beautifully. An easy style to fall in love with. Almost rated it a little higher. Rated : 94 Points Tasted : Sep11; Alcohol : 13% Price : $40 Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2011 - 2018+ Gary Walsh; The Wine Front

A very handy pinot with instantly complex fruits on the nose, entrancing fragrant perfume: cherries and bergamot, mandarin and eastern spices. The palate's juicy and supple - great concentrated and fresh red-cherry flavour is on the mark here. Sweeping, supple, lacy tannins to close. Balanced to boot. 94 Points; Nick Stock; SMH/The Age; Good Wine Guide
 
The nose is powerful, fruit-driven dark cherry making the opulent palate no surprise. A well-rounded, satisfying young pinot. Highly Recommended. Lester Jesberg, Winewise

The term Vintage Widow refers to all the “families often forgotten during vintage” whilst the crew strive to make the perfect Pinot Noir. The fruit came from a vineyard in the southern Waihopai Valley which is now 10 years old, and dry grown i.e. unirrigated. This is a beautifully scented, sweet fruited, luscious Marlborough Pinot Noir that had all the judges swooning. This Pinot Noir will delight you now and over the next 3-4 years. This wine is an expression of Jackson Estate's beloved Pinot Noir. It is idiosyncratically New Zealand in style, true to vineyard, region & variety. This wine is named Vintage Widow in recognition of the Estate's families, who are often forgotten at vintage as they strive to make the perfect bottle of Pinot Noir.

Aromas of violets, dried herb and darker forest fruit lead to a palate that follows in flavour profile; rich and ripe without loosing its precise pinot noir detail. Tannins are moderate but integrated leaving lasting impression of texture (density), harmony and not least; definitive southern clays character. Fruit was predominantly sourced from the clay bound soils of the Waihopai Valley, with a small parcel contribution from our Grey Ghost Vineyard on the central Wairau River plain.

Jackson Estate embodies the very best of Marlborough New Zealand, and is a testament to the vision and determination of the Stichbury & Jackson families who have farmed the land on the Wairau River plain at Jacksons Road for more than 160 years. Jackson Estate believes in a few simple principles; The best modern winemaking techniques; a respect for vineyard sites; an unerring pursuit of varietal integrity. ‘Our purpose-built winery effortlessly handles small parcels of premium grapes - all harvested, pressed and fermented separately.’ John Stichbury is one of the world’s great wine personalities; gentleman farmer, vigneron and a man of the land. Mike Paterson is Jackson Estate’s winemaker. He is as hardworking as he is innovative; indeed, in recent years he has guided the development of several new wines. None of this matters without viticulturist Geoff Woolcombe. Geoff has masterminded quality, consistency, and growth, literally - from the ground up.

Strong, dense, sweet fruit with restrained luscious flavours. Dark cherry, plum and spicy oak. A very seductive and appealing wine that's accessible now but promises to drink well for a number of years yet. 5 Stars; Bob Campbell MW (NZ)

Jackson Estate ‘Vintage Widow’ Pinot Noir 2009 There is more truth to the feeling that Jackson Estate has been around forever than most people realise. The Jackson Family settled in Marlborough in 1855! John and Jo Stitchbury represent the fifth generation, and when they launched the Jackson Estate label in 1991, they were hot news. Of course, there has been a plethora of labels established since, and Jackson Estate got a little lost in the crowd. Consistency and perseverance have seen the company rise to the forefront again. Geoff Woollcombe and Mike Paterson in viticultural and winemaking roles respectively have been doing a superb job, and this new release ‘Vintage Widow’ Pinot Noir reflects their work. Jackson Estate ‘Vintage Widow’ Marlborough Pinot Noir 2009 5 Stars: This wine is named in recognition of the families who tend to be ‘forgotten’ in the hurly-burly of harvest time. Made from clones 777, 667, 115, 114, 5 and 10/5 from the clay-soiled ‘Gum Emperor’ and ‘Somerset’ vineyards, fully destemmed and given a four day cold soak, wild yeast fermented to 14.0% alc., and aged 11 months in new and seasoned French oak barriques. Dark, deep, ruby-red colour with youthful purple hues, this has a powerfully concentrated, densely packed nose of black fruits and raspberries and cherry liqueur. Still tightly bound on palate, the density and concentration of ripe black and red berry fruits is a highlight. The wine reveals notes of herbs, spices and sweet oak with breathing. The extraction is excellent, the tannins fine and supple, and the palate is bright, fresh and clearly youthful. A little alcohol warmth adds to the richness. Match with wild duck and pork dishes over the next 5-7 years. 18.5+/20 Apr 2011 RRP $34.95; Raymond Chan Wine Reviews (NZ)

The quality of Jackson Estate’s Pinot Noir has shot up since the 2005, the first to be labelled ‘Vintage Widow’ – a reference to ‘our families, often forgotten at vintage’. The 2009 (5 Stars), matured in French oak barriques, is deeply coloured, with a fragrant, complex bouquet. Beautifully rich and sweet-fruited, it has dense cherry, plum and spice flavours and ripe, supple tannins. A powerful, generous wine, with obvious cellaring potential, it’s already delicious. 5 Stars; Michael Cooper; Buyers Guide to New Zealand Wines  2011

This powerful, generous wine is already drinking well. Deeply coloured, with a fragrant, complex bouquet, it is beautifully rich and sweet-fruited, with dense cherry, plum and spice flavours and a long, seductively smooth finish. $35; New Zealand Listener

Kooyong is located on the Mornington Peninsula at Tuerong and focuses on producing Pinot Noir and Chardonnay wine; both suited to the Peninsula’s cool maritime climate.  Kooyong is a ‘domain’ in the true sense of the word.  The wines are made from 100% estate grown fruit at its own on-site winery. Vibrant ruby red; A generous, open nose of red and dark berries, and a touch of vanilla bean. The soft, creamy texture reflects the relatively warm vintage, but the sweet fruit is balanced by abundant ripe, round tannins.  The flavour spectrum ranges from strawberries, raspberries, and boysenberries, through to cinnamon and clove, tapenade and coffee. There's a thickness and richness of texture that speaks of the vintage, but the varietal character remains pure. Generous and open now, it also has the intensity to age well. With careful cellaring, this wine has very good potential for ageing.

Dark in colour, and dark and sultry in character, loaded with black fruits and Asian spice on the bouquet; the palate reveals fresh black cherry, crunchy acidity and an assertive ironstone mineral component; long, taut, unevolved and expansive, this is serious big-boned Pinot Noir. 96 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion 2012

The Domaine du Treille and Domaine de Martinolles vineyards are located in the foothills of the Pyrenees near Limoux with the famed walled hillside town of Carcassonne nearby. Over ten years of age, these naturally low yielding vineyards produce the finest French Pinot Noir outside Burgundy due to the cool climate, high elevation and similar soils." - Vincent Charleux, winemaker

An elegant and restrained nose with red and black berries mixed with floral notes and spice aromas. The palate is rich and full bodied with an array of berry flavours. The class of the vintage is shown in the delicate and precise finish with varietal red berry overtones.

Nicholas Crampton is enjoying having his hands untied. After spending eight years working for a big Australian winery, he set up his own company and created a French wine brand. It only has two wines – Le Chat Noir Sauvignon Blanc ($16.99) and Le Chat Noir Pinot Noir (($19.99) – buy they’re outstanding value. Crampton is probably right when he calls his “the best French Pinot Noir outside of Burgundy”. And there’s the clue – they’re not from the renowned French wine regions, but the Aude Valley, in the foothills of the Pyrenees. France’s wine; Industry is highly regulated – only one region is famous for Cabernet (we have at least four) and only one region is famous For Pinot Noir (here, there are at least five), and so on. But good wines are grown in other French regions, they’re just not as highly prizes – hence Le Chat’s reasonable prices. Crampton has done wine drinkers a big favour. The Wine Front

This wine has been a runaway success since its inception a few years ago but quality-wise, this 2010 is the year for it to really crack the big time. It’s grown in France’s Aude Valley (though I appreciate the way Walsh calls it, more authentically, “Valee de l’Aude”). I have a feeling Le Chat Noir might put the Aude Valley on the map.

It’s been a tough time for bargain pinot noir drinkers of late. There are a couple of exceptions but in general, the heat of 2009 and the wet of 2011 have hardly made it easy for volume producers – and it usually takes volume to keep both the price down, and the quality up. This pinot noir from Le Chat Noir steps beautifully into the breach. It has a flash of cedary oak – not something I’ve seen in previous vintages – good density of fruit flavour, a rub of tannin and better-than-decent length. Better still, it smells perfumed and buoyant and tastes fresh and vigorous. It doesn’t just scratch the pinot itch, it gets the heart racing. If you see this wine around, and you’re a pinot noir fan – BUY. 92 Points & Top value - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front

Lethbridge was originally planted to vines by Swiss immigrants circa 1874. Replanted and redeveloped in 1996, the site is managed to the biodynamic principles of the Biological Farmers of Australia. Real wine is the passion, wines which are the product of healthy vines and traditional vinification techniques. A mixture of clones, including MV6 and 114, 115 and 777 are grown to a number of unique terroirs on the Lethbridge property. All blocks are picked and handled separately in order to construct a Pinot Noir with penetrative palate and engaging complexity

All harvesting is done by hand, grapes are crushed and destemmed, a third of the berries are included as whole bunches. Pre-fermentation maceration ensues for seven to ten days until indigenous yeast fermentation commences. The must is vinified in small open 1000 litre vats over a period of seven days to temperatures peaking at 32°C, while being treated to pigéage four times daily. Fermentations are followed by a fortnight of maceration. The wine is pressed straight to a combination of new and seasoned French oak barrels to allow for gross lees contact. Following malolactic, components are racked twice throughout the maturation period before being bottled unfiltered. Approx 13.5% 

Deep red colour. Intense bouquet of cherries and spice, mocha and smoked meats. A sweet cherry and briar flavoured palate with hints of clove. Offers excellent palate weight, a silky mouthfeel and fine integrated tannins. Lovely balance across the palate and a great long finish. Quality, without compromise, a European accented wine with the focus on balance and texture, made to be enjoyed with good food. Immensely satisfying on release, Lethbridge will continue to develop complexity.

Only 141 Dozen made! I’ve travelled to the town of Gruyere in Switzerland on a pilgrimage for a public toilet en route somewhere else less cheese orientated, so it is always a delight seeing this name come up in lights for wine producers in the Yarra. Mac Forbes wears the name proud on the bottle, and I wonder if the Gruyere AOC committee has sent round a car of comfortable looking gents in grey suits armed with briefcases, chocolates and watches to quell his insurrection. A dry grown vineyard on sandy loams planted to MV6. 5% wholebunch, 14% oak. En guete! Fragrant bouquet of leafy, stem influenced red cherry and dark plum fruit, but all wafty and perfumed. The palate is fine, wrought with feathery tannin, seamless red fruits and a warmth of earth, spice and walnut husks. Has wonderful movement from front to back palate, almost that gossamer feel, with a lingering finish of spicy, bright fruit flavours. Genteel yet luxurious through complexity, this is a wine of finesse and superior drinkability. Will evolve too. Rated : 95 Points Alcohol : 12%  Closure : Screwcap; Drink : 2011 - 2018+ Mike Bennie; The Wine Front

It's hard to explain, but sometimes you just smell a wine and get the impression that everything came together perfectly - this is one such wine. The nose ticks all the pinot boxes, with ripe strawberries and cherries, lifted pink musky fragrance, some sappy notes, bracken, spice and fresh earth - complexity from the get-go. The palate has a sleeve of ripe, juicy fruit, tannins twist to form a sturdy structural thread and acidity shines a bright light through tangy red fruits - very precise, and lifting with verve through the finish. Brilliant wine. 96 points. Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide, 2012.

Only 260 Dozen made! Perhaps the greatest tongue twister in vinous history outside New Zealand’s famed Nga Waka Wines, Woori Yallock (Wooli Yarrock, Yarri Woolock, Wally Lewis?) is the apex of the dollar amounts from Mac Forbes (which are modest in the scheme of things). Mac says ‘this is my favourite site’. Fair enough. Loam on gravelly clay, only 7% new oak, 93% gets sexed up elsewise. A very cool site too. Only 260 cases produced. Black rimmed garnet colour with a wonderful aromatic profile showing slate, black cherry, wet earth and blackberry brambles. The palate is focussed, neatly honed with driving dark cherry fruit, strict but pliant and herbaceous tannins which rush to the finish with a razor line of bright fruit and spice. Trim and taut, there is a searing power beneath the lacework of complexity, and a fine crunch of acidity for excitement. For those that seek pinot noir with a cage of filigree and finesse with a flightly, muscular beast lurking. Superb. Rated : 96 Points Alcohol : 12.5% Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2011 - 2021 Mike Bennie; The Wine Front

This sits at the top of the price tree in the Forbes range, and it needs time to open and reveal itself at this young stage. Up comes abundant aromas of pristine red fruits - very restrained, focused and fragrant, and there's a strong mineral-like thread here too. The palate's unwavering linear shape is thrilling to taste, elegant, precise and powerful, with some sappy complexity and deeply bedded savoury oak too. In the mouth, fluffy, fine tannins glide through, carrying pristine ripe-cherry flavour, and launch into flight off the finish. A cool, athletic and tightly coiled pinot noir that will build for some years yet. 96 points. Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide, 2012.

The 2009 Gibraltar Rock Pinot Noir has benefited from complete ripening in the moderate and benign conditions to produce a wine of great structure and personality.

The hue of this wine is deep red with purple hues and a black heart. The nose has a delicate perfume with black cherry, spice and kirsch characters that are still quite closed and crying for air. The palate is richly textured with sweet glossy cherry stone fruit with whiffs of earth, mushroom and cured meat. The Gibraltar Rock has a powerful mouthfilling middle palate from the extra time on skins. There is a plush texture to match the structure which has supporting subtle spicy oak notes. A Pinot Noir of great power and texture with a great aging potential. It will need another 2 years to show it’s potential and will improve for up to 5 years.

Gibraltar rock vineyard nestles into the north face of the Porongorup range famous for its granite outcrops and ancient soils. Combined with a commitment to quality viticulture the pinot noir grown here has more mineral and floral characters underlying the dense cherry and raspberry fruit. A fine savory texture and lingering structural tannins complete an intriguing example of a single site pinot noir.

The expression of pinot noir from the mount barrow site is due to its gravelly well drained lateritic soils, low vigour and sustainable viticulture. Bright cherry and red fruits are supported by warm earth complexity, a silky texture and finely layered tannin structure.

The key component of this wine is the great length of dense, full, delicious and placid fruit flavours. There are persistent fine drying tannins and the fruit levels are such that they carry this with ease. The best Australian Marchand & Burch pinot noir to date. The east’s wine columnists say that the west can’t produce pinot, so this would prove to be a fascinating component of any tasting of Australasia’s finest current releases. 18.5pts; John Jens, Western Suburbs Weekly, 22 Jun 2010

The Medhurst Red shed range of wines is a fresh approach to cool climate winemaking – we pick the fruit when fresh and crunchy, capture the vitality of the grape through a simple approach to winemaking and then bottle the wine when young to enjoy at its vibrant best.

The 2010 Pinot Noir is deeply coloured, vibrantly flavoured, deliciously juicy and difficult to resist. Estate-grown, low-cropped Yarra Valley pinot noir from a fantastic vintage. Try it with some grilled meats or chill it (slightly) and pack in your picnic hamper.

We try our hardest to do as little as possible in the winery with our pinot noir fruit as we spend almost all of our efforts in the vineyard. Shoot thinning, bunch thinning and hand picking all ensure that we have low cropped, intensely flavoured fruit. All we do in the winery is not muck it up!
The blend is only drawn from the fruit grown on the slope of our front pinot block, where the soil is shallow and gravelly and the north-west aspect creates a warm site in a cool region. As a result, there is tremendous richness and generous fruit flavours that seemlessly marry to supple and refined tannins. Delicious now, with careful cellaring, the flavours will gain complexity and the palate will soften. If you can't wait that long, we love to match the pinot with duck or pork, where the textures and flavours are some well suited.

Hint of purple to the crimson; despite marginal difference in ripeness, this is a mile away from Red Shed; it has perfumed, spicy red fruits and a truly silky mouthfeel; oak has been used with discretion. Drink: 2017; Rating: 94 Points; James Halliday

Trophy - Best Pinot Noir - 2011 Royal Melbourne Wine Show
Trophy - Best Single Vineyard Pinot Noir - 2011 Royal Melbourne Wine Show
Gold Medal - 2011 Royal Melbourne Wine Show

Several rows were especially selected from Mike's vineyard in Lobethal to create this wine. The essence of a good Pinot Noir is up front strawberry like aroma with a soft rounded almost velvety palate. The wine was finished in small oak barrels to complex all the flavored into a complete wine. Ready to drink now but will hold and age for several years.

Here's a challenge: Line this wine up against every other single vineyard, small producer, sub-$15 Pinot on the shelves and pick the one that is varietally correct, pretty and an enjoyable drink. Fooled you, there are no others! And that in itself is reason enough to stock up big time on this little beauty. We adored the last Mike Press Pinot, but that was years ago, and the fruit hasn't been good enough for him to make it since, so who knows how long it will be before the next one lands? In the meantime, there's nothing but good news here.

It's a gentle cherry/berry style with a fresh violet lift and some spicy complexity on the finish. Fine tannins give it more definition and structure than you'd expect. It's only going to get better with two or three years in the cellar, so make sure you go long on this one. , 13.0%, RRP $14; 91 points; Tyson Stelzer

Bright and clear colour, the hue still vivid; the palate delivers the promise of the colour, with fresh cherry and raspberry red fruits; good length. The price is awesome. Cork. 12.5% alc. Rating 93 Points Drink 2012 Date Tasted Jan 07 Halliday Australian Wine Companion

A pretty, supple and willowy pinot whose tightly focused and musky perfume of sweet red cherries and berries reveals meaty, earthy undertones of hazelnuts and flowers. Smooth and silky, it presents slightly fatty palate of penetrative cherry/berry flavour over a fine-grained chassis of powdery tannin. It finishes with just a hint of meaty and leathery complexity, plus a herbal hint of tomato stalk. (Gippsland, $75 retail, approx., 18.2/93, drink 2008-2011+) Jeremy Oliver, OnWine

In 1991 Neil Prentice and family established their Moondarra Vineyard in Gippsland, planted to 11 low-yielding clones of pinot noir. The vines are not irrigated, and vineyard management is predicated on the minimum use of any sprays with the aim of ultimately moving to Biodynamic/Pagan farming methods. The winemaking techniques are strongly influenced by the practices of controversial Lebanese-born Burgundy consultant Guy Accad, with ten days pre-fermentation maceration and whole bunches added prior to fermentation. The wines are distributed in Melbourne and Sydney by Select Vineyards, go to Japan via Vintage Cellars, and to the United States with John Larchet's Australian Premium Wine Collection. And yes, the $90 a bottle (or $1000 per dozen) is indeed the price. James Halliday 2004 Wine Companion

Ninth Island, although often shrouded by ocean mists, the Island is visible from our Pipers Brook vineyard in northern Tasmania. The island name has been used for our range of fresh, vibrant early drinking style wines that capture the distinctive cool-climate flavours and nature of Tasmania. The 2010 growing season was characterised by almost perfect growing conditions for flowering and fruit set, followed by long warm summer ripening days in the season. As a result of well balanced vines, with small bunches and berries, this has contributed to an intensely perfumed Pinot Noir which has achieved lush full flavour ripeness with soft delicate aromatics, and balanced by fine well-integrated tannins.

The grapes were grown on a mixture of Vertosol soils (Black Cracking Clays), characteristic of our Tamar Valley vineyards, and Ferrosols (Volcanic soils), from our Pipers River vineyards. Both these soil types have an excellent water holding capacity, offering a steady supply of moisture and nourishment to the vines through out the growing season.

Our aim with this rich and expressive pinot noir style is to bring all of the sensual delicate flavours and delights of pinot noir to a peak at an early stage of the wine’s life, while offering a lush round and textured full body palate. To achieve this, the grapes, once picked, are immediately de-stemmed and crushed before being fermented in a combination of Vinimatic and open vat ferments. The grape must is then inoculated and fermented at between 25-30°C for a period of 7 to 12 days before being pressed off into stainless steel vessels. The wine then completes full malolactic fermentation and is then bottled early under screw cap. This allows the wine to attain a style that is both intensely perfumed with distinctive soft velvety tannins and rich, fresh, vibrant fruit.

Vibrant ruby red with subtle purple hue. Lifted aromas of cherry, sweet cranberries, mulberry and pomegranate, a fragrant perfume of violets and rose petal, distinctively Ninth Island, all nicely entwined on the finish with a faint background of mocha coffee/ chocolate and undertones of pepper berry spice. A wine made for enjoyment, beautiful bright lift of flavours, stylishly support the palate. Concentrated and long, with the finer qualities of early drinking Pinot Noir. At first the taste is supple round and delicate, but soon bursts with richness and power as the delicious flesh and flavours fill the mouth. Sweet lifted fruit on the middle palate, finely balanced by integrated tannins and a long captivating finish that lingers.

Bright colour; bright red cherry bouquet, offset by herbaceous notes of mint and spice; the palate is driven by taut acidity, and almost gravelly tannins to conclude. Alcohol:13.5%; Drink By: 2014; Rating: 90 Points; Price:$23.50; James Halliday

Schoolteacher-turned-winemaker Lindsay McCall has shown an absolutely exceptional gift for winemaking across a range of styles, but with immensely complex Pinot Noir and Shiraz leading the way. The wines have an unmatched level of success in the wine shows and competitions Paringa Estate is able to enter, the limitation being the relatively small size of production. His skills are no less evident in contract winemaking for others. Winery Rating 5 stars. James Halliday

This wine is a fruit driven style that has genuine ripe pinot characteristics with considerable depth and flavour. The bouquet and palate has dark cherry fruit flavours and aromas, some spice and subtle oak characters. An excellent current drinking pinot, will reward short-term cellaring of 3 to 5 years.

Peninsula Series: Fruit for these wines comes partly from our Estate managed vineyards at Red Hill plus fruit purchased from a number of carefully selected vineyards from other sub-regions of the Mornington Peninsula. “The quality of these wines are often equal to many other vineyards best” (James Halliday)

Star-bright clear crimson-purple; has excellent drive and persistence on the long palate, with red and black cherry fruit interwoven with spicy characters and very fine tannins. Ten separate picking dates between 3 Mar and 28 Mar  To 2017; 94 Points; James Halliday, Australian Wine Companion 2012 Edition.  

Paringa is one of Mornington's leading estates, having previously claimed Royal Melbourne Most Successful Winery Trophy and much international acclaim for it's founder. Class fruit, good oak, and a Houdini-like deftness in the handling of Pinot Noir, this is the middle edition of three sensational Cuvées, from some of the finest vines in the locality. "
 
Crafted around a backbone of intensely flavoured estate grown Pinot fruit, supported by batches of fine grapes from select, exceptional vineyards around Redhill. A formulation of mature vines and meticulous vineyard management are the recipe for the outstanding presence of fruit within this wine. Crop thinning to reduce the size of the crop and to maximize the quality of the grapes is an essential part of the viticulture at Paringa. Vines are trellised to the Lyre system which allows them to find their own natural balance. The divided canopy helps open the foliage up, allowing better airflow and light penetration to leaves and fruit, assisting the ripening bunches to develop good colour and varietal flavours. Alcohol 14.0%
 
This wine has a complex bouquet of dark cherry fruit, cinnamon spice and a subtle savoury new oak char character.On the palate there is a powerful dark cherry/black fruit flavours well integrated with the savoury spicy/French Oak providing both roundness and lenght. The fine grained tannins help provide excellent weight and structure to the wine that will ensure the wine takes several years to reach its peak and then age gracefully with careful cellaring.
 
Champion Dry Red of Show: Winewise Championship 2010
Champion Varietal Red of Show: Winewise Championship 2010
Pinot Noir Medallion: Winewise Championship 2010

A fragrant bouquet leads into a palate of quite beautiful line and length, with cherry and just a hint of forest; elegance personified. Screwcap. Rating 96 Points; Drink 2015 Date Tasted Jul 09; James Halliday Australian Wine Companion 2011

Lots of powerful, chewy tannin and spicy, savoury flavour. It’s a pinot for pinot-philes. It has flavours of rhubarb and dark cherry, dried tobacco leaves and orange peel – an exotic wine and a daring one. Impressive. Price: $29; Drink: 2012-2016; Value: * * * * * Rating: 94 points; The Big Red Wine Book – 2010/2011

Top 5 Pinot Noir under $50 - The Big Red Wine Book – 2010/2011

Provenance is on an historic wine site in the Geelong region (back in the 1800s Geelong was the hub of Victorian wine) and while it’s been reborn for a while, its wines have really hit their straps in the past couple of years. It doesn’t seem quite as tannic now as it did a few months back, though it had probably only just been bottled then. It’s a spicy, savoury wine with flavours of rhubarb and dark cherry, dried tobacco leaves and orange peel. I like the mix of autumnal flavours and ripe, fleshy mouthfeel; if that makes sense. It should mature well. Rated : 92+ Points Alcohol : 13.5% Price : $29.50 Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2011 - 2016 By Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

Grown in the Moorabool Valley sub-region of Geelong, approximately 70km southwest of Melbourne. Our Pinot Noir vineyard is planted on a moderately steep slope with a south-east aspect. This aspect means very little late afternoon sun from the west, a positive terroir parameter that ensures the fruit is not baked during the height of summer. Red-loam soils over a limestone base are well drained and grow vines of moderate vigour. Various clones of Pinot Noir are mixed across the vineyard ensuring a complex range of flavours at harvest.

Yarra Valley. Gentle north-east facing slope, cooler than expected, early ripening, very aromatic site. Highly mineral Humevale siltstone which give us some of our finest wine styles.

The Abbey site is quite fine and elegant with perfume and power. Very pretty black cherry fruit, complex slightly rustic nose with hint of strawberry and clove. The palate is powerful with spice, earth and red fruit flavours that build in texture. Elegant finish with with fine powdery tannins. Surprisingly poised now, but should be pretty fancy over 3-5 years. 13.0 Alc

Light, clear, bright red; has the red berry and spice characters of its less expensive sibling (Estate Pinot Noir), except that the volume of fruit is immeasurably greater, the flavours correspondingly more intense and long; cherry and plum have a dusting of savoury spices, but no more. Has stupendous length. Drink: to 2017; Price: $42; Rating: 97 Points; James Halliday Wine Companion

A pretty, lighter bodied take on Yarra Pinot with an air of spice, cherry kernel and anise over a core of red cherry fruits. The finish is long, vibrant, bright and accented with finely textured tannins. 94 Points; Tyson Stelzer, Wine 100, August 2011

Paul Scorpo has a 27-year background as a horticulturist/landscape architect, and has worked on major projects ranging from private gardens to golf courses in Australia, Europe and Asia. His family has a love of food, wine and gardens, all of which led to them buying a derelict apple and cherry orchard on gentle rolling hills between Port Phillip and Westernport Bay. Part of a ridge system which climbs up to Red Hill, it offers north and northeast-facing slopes on red-brown, clay loam soils. They have established 6 ha of pinot noir, chardonnay, pinot gris and shiraz.

Bright crimson; a perfumed and fragrant bouquet with fruit, spice and violet aromas , then a silky and long palate playing a reprise of the bouquet. Lovely wine. Rating: 96 Points; Drink By: 2019; Price: $45; Date Tasted: 05 Mar 2011; James Halliday - Published on 05 Mar 2011