Jim Chatto is recognised as having one of the very best palates in Australia, and has proved to be an outstanding winemaker. He and wife Daisy long wanted to get a small Tasmanian pinot business up and running, but having moved to the Hunter Valley in 2000, it took six years to find a site that satisfied all of the criteria Jim considers ideal. It is a warm, well drained site in one of the coolest parts of Tasmania, looking out over Glaziers Bay. 

Stylistically we are looking to make a focused yet elegant wine of purity and balance that is true to the site, with the fruit spectrum right on the cusp of red and black (perhaps leaning to the red). Thus, still holding its natural acidity, vibrancy and line. Stalks are a component; though well embedded into the wine. Our crops are low (~1 kg/vine) so we are reaching this flavour profile at modest sugar levels Made in the vineyard from careful selection of 3-4 of the 8 clones planted, depending on the season.

Deep and brightly youthful purple colour in the glass with a big waft of smoky reduction at first sniff. The wine is rich and concentrated on palate with tremendous depth of ripe cherry fruit flavour and a pleasant backing of fine, dry tannins. There is rich, ripe black fruit underneath the sulfides but it needs airing to bring the fruit aromas out. A great complexity of flavour and bouquet is eventually revealed. The texture is wonderfully sumptuous. An extraordinary pinot of serious weight, depth, perfume and structure. (3 to 4 clones selected from the Chatto family vineyard, Huon Valley) Date: July 2025; Alcohol: 13.5%; Drink: 2025-2040; Rating: 98 Points; Huon Hooke; The Real Review  

A deeper ruby in the glass. The Isle Pinot Noir shows a reductive profile that is a little more smoothed out than its brethren/sistren, the Intrigue. There's something vaguely maritime in the aromatic profile here, too, like earth on the breeze alerting a mariner's nostrils far from landfall. Dark cherry, wild strawberry and raspberry fruit tones with a captivating blood orange tone that pushes my buttons. Hints of souk-like spice, char siu, dark cherry conserve, negroni, light, toasty oak, dried shiitake, pomegranate, dried game meats, wildflowers and earth. I love the clarity and tension in this wine; the interplay between pure fruit, tannin and acidity captures and holds attention as the wine travels stony and composed across the palate. What a beauty. Date: Aug 2025; Alcohol: 13.5%; Price: $100.00; Drink by: 2040; Rating: 97 Points & Special Value Star; James Halliday Wine Companion