This wine comes from our Top Paddock vineyard which has been included in our Estate wine since the 2006 vintage. The vineyard was shoot thinned and there was no need for bunch thinning. Crop level was about 2.7 tonne per acre. All fruit is hand-picked in the morning and refrigerated overnight. In the morning the grapes are immediately de-stemmed and lightly crushed into tank. The short ripening period of 2008, meant we had to be very careful of green and unripe tannins. The ferment was plunged once daily and mostly by pigage (feet). No acid additions were made during the vinification. Once fermentation was complete. The wine was gently pressed (maximum of 0.8 bar) and transferred to old hogsheads for 9 months. The wine was lightly filtered and not fined.

 I thought I’d include the winery notes (above) just to show what sort of detail and care is going into a wine that sells for under $15. Remarkable.

It’s pretty and fine with strawberries, a touch of sausage meat, some minty foresty notes and dusty spicy old oak - light, very light and clear in fact. There’s no shortage of flavour though with clean crisp red fruits and a sort of weak pear juice flavour (don’t mind me) and a touch of dried herb and spice. Very fine tannin and fresh juicy acidity but there’s a positive grip on exit to close things off.  The drinkability, pinosity and class for a wine under $15 is really something other. Amazing.  91 points. Gary Walsh; The Wine Front

Yes, well, not much more that I can say. It’s a pretty, light-ish wine with its acid and structure set exactly so. You pick it up and immediately think: how can they grow this quality and only charge $15? It’s not the grandest pinot noir in the world and its foresty, minty characters push my limits, but don’t overstep them. Pinosity is the word - it has bunker-loads of it. Yep, 90-91 points for me too. They sent up two bottles and unusually, over a few days I opened both … because I enjoy drinking it. Tasted : Feb09 Alcohol : 13% Price : $14.95 Closure : Screwcap Drink : 2009 - 2014 Campbell Mattinson; The Wine Front

Vibrant cherry red; clean and precise cherry fruit with a touch of stemmy complexity; light-bodied, fresh and focused, with a splash of velvet to conclude; good value again. Screwcap. 13.5% alc. Rating 92 Drink 2012 $14.99 Date Tasted Mar 09 James Halliday Wine Companion

In much the same way as they revolutionised sub-$20 Yarra Pinot at the start of this decade, now Hoddles Creek Estate threaten to re-write the rules of expectation with sub-$15 Yarra Pinot. The one word that came to mind when I tried - ok, make that drank - this wine was 'pretty'. The bright crimson colour does not prepare one for the oodles of Pinot flavours that burst into the mouth. Hints of strawberry, forest floor and lifted perfumed notes greet the nose with these characteristics brilliantly balanced with firm acidity on a generous finish. My next comment was going to pertain to how well the media will accept and rate this wine though given only a few hundred cases were made and it is not due for official release until March 1, it might be worth jumping on this now. Now - 2012; Quality: Excellent BW; WineStar© February 2009