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Red WineThe iconic Ten Minutes by Tractor has numerous amazing vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula and the Judd vineyard may be the best of them all, it is the oldest and steepest of all the TMT single vineyards.
The 2021 Judd is classic cool climate Pinot Noir, showing notes of delicate sweet cherry and expressive notes of lavender, licorice and blackcurrant leaf. The complex and structured palate works in harmony with the fruit showing precision at every turn.
Red WineThe Sanford & Benedict Vineyard is where it all began. In 1971 this was the first vineyard planted in what became the world-class, cool-climate Sta. Rita Hills appellation.
Bright, ruby red, the 2016 Sanford & Benedict Pinot Noir entices with aromatic spicy red fruits, complemented by notes of wet stone and dried herb. The palate delivers earthy raspberry flavours with lush, silky texture. The bright acidity and supple tannins give the wine great structure and length. To allow the vineyard to shine through, the winemakers take a gentle approach in the cellar, using traditional Burgundian techniques.
The wine was aged in French Oak barrels (35% new) for 14 months where it gained concentration, while allowing the tannins to soften. This wine is drinking well now, but has the balance and structure to age beautifully for the next 12 to 15 years.
This is an outstanding Pinot Noir from the renowned Brewer-Clifton. The 3D vineyard is nestled between Lafond and Ampelos in the Santa Rita Hills and was the first vineyard planted by the Greg Brewer and Steve Clifton in 2007. It is pure and elegant on the nose with expressive aromas of red cherries, candied raspberry and strawberry. The palate is expansive with flavours of sweet fruits, tea leaf and fine spices. Lovely structure and precision here. Incredible finesse and purity.
At Brewer Clifton they strive to remove the winemaker’s signature, allowing the voice of the vineyard to be the overriding expression. Only neutral barrels are employed and they strive for whole cluster fermentation, interestingly the fruit from each vineyard is handled identically from harvest to bottling, allowing the true essence of each site to be expressed.
They also farm with a focus of ripening the stems of the bunch alongside the fruit, allowing the cluster to be in harmony. Working with the stems allows for wines that are structured, earthy and balanced with the exceptional Santa Rita Hills fruit. The analogy they use is roasting fish or meat on the bone, the bone offers complex flavours very different than taking it off of the bone to cook it.
This beguiling Magnum of Pinot Noir from the excellent 2019 vintage has outstanding depth of colour for Pinot Noir displaying an opaque dark red-black core with a dark red-purple hue. The powerfully scented nose is dominated by ripe black cherry and dark plum aromas laced with anise over toasty cedar, light earth and spice. The palate is rich and concentrated that’s filled with dark and black cherry flavours, dark plums and anise underpinned by scorched earth and spicy cedar. Sturdy but fine-grained tannins provide some underlying muscle to the fruit. Excellent power with a long finish of dark and black fruits, anise, scorched earth and spicy cedar. Will improve for 6-8 years.
Paringa’s and arguably Australias top Pinot Noir – made from barrels which were selected as clearly superior at the time of blending and bottling. The wine has rich powerful aromas of spice and dark cherry, combined with charry oak, secondary barrel-ferment mocha/coffee characters that will integrate further to become more Burgundian like with bottle age. On the palate the wine has rich ripe fruit, firm fine-grained tannins helping provide excellent texture and length.
The ‘Single Vineyard’ Pinot Noir wines of Mt Difficulty rival the ‘Block’ wines of Felton Road as the most highly-regarded of Central Otago. They join an elite band of superb, terroir-driven releases of Pinot Noir from New Zealand that are demanding a place alongside fine Burgundy wine. The ‘Single Vineyard’ wines are only made when the character of the vineyard site can be expressed faithfully with accompanying exceptional quality. ]
This 2009 Packspur is a very elegant Pinot with a beautiful perfume of velvety, raspberry/ cranberry notes; adding complexity and intrigue are clove and anise spice. Rich, full, red fruit of the forest palate entry leads into a well-textured lush midpalate. Finally, lovely finely structured tannins round out this dense and concentrated wine.
The grapes for the wines that carry the Mt Difficulty label have traditionally been sourced from vineyards situated on the Southside of the Kawarau River at Bannockburn. The Growers Series is a recent addition to the Mt Difficulty portfolio, allowing us to showcase the terroir of different sub-regions. Packspur Vineyard is situated on Heany Road in Lowburn, on the northern side of Cromwell (as opposed to Bannockburn to the South). The vineyard takes its name from the track that was used to pack supplies over the Pisa Range, from the Lowburn Valley to the gold fields of the Cardrona Valley. The vineyard irrigation is a miners’ water right from 1863.
At full maturity and drinking beautifully. Beguiling, rich and stays in the palate for an age. The grapes for this wine come from a large plot with the evocative name of “Les Champs au pied du Mont” (“The Fields at the Foot of the Mountain”), located on the slope overlooking the outskirts of Beaune. This vineyard, facing due east, produces both red and white wine. The Pinot Noir grapes in the lower part benefit from a very clayey soil that produces deeply-coloured, powerful wines. The high iron content in the soil often accounts for aromas reminiscent of soot or smoke.
Red WineAnother blockbuster of a wine from Domaine Pierre Naigeon. This is a wine of great complexity, finesse and power that brings notes of black cherry and blackberry to the fore with delicate mineral undertones. Silky, with supple tannins and wonderful freshness.
The 1er Cru vines are grown in a small parcel in the middle of the Gevrey Chambertin appellation, by the hill of the ‘Combe de Lavaux’. It is a sunny plot with a southeastern exposure that receives cooling breezes, which flow from the bottom of the valley. The soil is complex, ranging from limestone from Dijon to decarbonated silt. The vineyard is cultivated organically, without the use of herbicides and insecticides and will be certified from the 2019 vintage.
Andromeda is a Pinot Noir from the famous Devil’s Gulch Vineyard in Marin County and is made by Sean Thackrey who is often called a mystical and an iconic winemaker because of his winemaking techniques and lack of detail about his wines and the success he has had. In fact, unlike 99.9% of wine producers in the world, who broadcast the minutiae of their vineyard practices and technical methodology on press materials and on their websites, Thackrey releases no such information, believing that the wines speak for themselves and that everything else is none of our business. A trip to his website on which he offers no information on his own wines but instead offers texts from the history of winemaking that come from his extensive collection of books and manuscripts. All this is very refreshing and all the more so because of how wonderful his wines are.
The 2008 Andromeda is an interpretation of Pinot noir you won’t come across very often. The unique array of aromas include cut flowers, ponzu and green grass. The flavours are unusual and challenging to describe and rather befitting this quirky, talented winemaker. The wine does not follow the usual flavour profile of Pinot Noir but does offer some tasty black cherry and berry fruit. A leafy, green note runs consistently through the taste profile as well as oak-derived vanilla.
Red WineA rich, structured Pinot Noir with complex aromas of smoky red and black fruits, roasted herbs, conifer forest and exotic spice through to a palate of impeccable balance.
2019 stands out as one of the more exceptional vintages in recent memory. Cooler temperatures and stable weather throughout the growing season allowed for slow maturation of flavours without any heat events spiking sugar accumulation in the berries. Although 2019 also saw the devastating Kincade fire in Sonoma County, the fruit was harvested by then, so the smoke did not affect the grapes.
The grapes come from Charles and Diana Karren’s vineyard, a couple who are incredibly passionate about growing grapes. The single vineyard ‘Terra de Promissio’ translates as ‘the Land of Promise’ and it has an ideal terroir for growing Pinot Noir. Located in the Petaluma Gap subregion, the combination of the sandy loam and Adobe clay soils, the south-westerly sun exposure, hill elevation, vine density of 5×7’ spacing and the wind and fog of the Petaluma Gap, allows the grapes to have an extended hang time.
Mixed Cases, Red WineEach Explore 4 case tackles a new theme: This one is a selection of Pinot Noirs that won’t break the bank.
Everyone loves Pinot Noir: It’s aromatic, supple, brightly fruited, and versatile. But, most of the time, it is also expensive. Here are some Pinot Noir bargains that are firm favourites with us because of their diversity and drinkability.
Pinot noir is widely planted and appears in nearly all winegrowing regions of the world, and given the grape varieties’ preference for cooler climates and poorer soils, we leaned toward lesser-known regions in both Hemispheres with those characteristics.
Here’s what’s in the case:
2020 Cruel Mistress Pinot Noir, Larry Cherubino, Great Southern, Western Australia
This gorgeous Pinot Noir from Larry Cherubino is made with fruit from the Great Southern region of Western Australia. The nose shows graphite and minerals, juicy black cherries with a hint of spicy oak plays a supporting role. The palate is softly textured, fresh and vibrant, the flavours of black cherry and earthy beetroot carried along by a fine acid finish.
2017 Pinot Noir ‘Eggo Filoso’, Zorzal, Gualtallary, Uco Valley, Argentina
Zorzal is an Argentinian boutique winery that is located at the highest point of the Uco Valley. Hailed as one of the most exclusive and well-regarded areas for viticulture in Argentina, the terroir is revealed in the Zorzal wines through a respectful, non-invasive winemaking process that puts austerity before exuberance and fruit before wood.
2018 South Coast Pinot Noir, Lismore, Greyton, Western Cape, South Africa
Californian Samantha O’Keefe has found paradise and the perfect terroir. Tucked into the foothills of a dramatic mountain range at the bottom of Africa, Lismore Estate Vineyards was born alongside her nascent family. A passionate vision, combined with vines planted at 300 metres, which are chilled by winter snow and nourished by the African summer sun, produces classic, cool climate wines which are rich, complex and lovingly hand-crafted. This 2018 is an elegant Pinot Noir delivering a complex bouquet of crushed rose petals, wild jasmine and fresh French herbs. The palate shows beautiful purity with layered red fruits, cranberry, raspberry, silky tannins and a long, savoury finish.
2018 Givry 1er Cru Rouge L’Empreinte, Domaine Joblot, Burgundy, France
One of the greatest producers in Southern Burgundy, the Joblot family has been producing fine wines for over four generations. These sought after wines have limited availability. L’Empreinte means ‘Footprint’ in French and this cuvée is the result of the best parcels of Domaine Joblot’s four Givry 1er Cru vineyards: Clos Maroles, Clos Du Cellier Aux Moines , Bois Chevaux and clos de la Servoisine.
Red WineA rich, concentrated Pinot Noir with aromas of black raspberries and pomegranate layered with hints of lavender, rose oil and wild sage. Black fruits and mineral notes lead to an earthy finish with a floral lift.
The grapes for the MCM88 come from the famed vineyard formerly known as Keefer Ranch, which produces an exuberant single vineyard Pinot Noir, from the block originally farmed by Kosta Browne. The grapes come from a very special block, now known as Perry Ranch, which produces a bold style of Pinot Noir with great concentration and richness.
2019 stands out as one of the more exceptional vintages in recent memory. Cooler temperatures and stable weather throughout the growing season allowed for slow maturation of flavours without any heat events spiking sugar accumulation in the berries. Although 2019 also saw the devastating Kincade fire in Sonoma County, the fruit was harvested by then, so the smoke did not affect the grapes.
Clos de Vougeot is one of the most famous grand cru vineyards in Burgundy and produces exceptional quality wines full of complex layers of flavour. This 2014 Grand Cru is a rich dark garnet colour in the glass. This wine offers powerful and concentrated black fruit aromas with an elegant touch of oak. On the palate, flavours of black cherry blackberry fruits are complimented by subtle warm spice and move onto a long lingering finish.
Awarded 95 points and a rare Outstanding status by Decanter in the 2016 Decanter World Wine Awards.
Red WineOn the nose, the Volnay Les Champans 1er Cru shows aromas of red cherries, raspberry and wild strawberry aromas tinged with violet. On the palate, it is medium-bodied with sappy red fruit, a good acidity and a persistent finish.
“En Champans” is one of the most highly regarded vineyards of Volnay. The name of the vineyard comes from two words “Champ” (field) and “pans” (old dialect for “pente” – slope). This 0.96 parcel is located on steep east-facing slopes. The top of the parcel has light brown chalky soil whereas the lower section of the parcel is more clay dominant with a darker brown and red-hued soil.
The Domaine has practised organic viticulture since 1995 and was certified organic in 2012. Since 2005 it has also converted to biodynamic viticulture.
Red WineThe Grands Crus of Gevrey-Chambertin are iconic Pinot Noir wines; powerful, virile, complex and intense. This 2016 Charmes-Chambertin Grand Cru opens in the glass with exquisite aromas of violets, roses and wild strawberries. A touch of violet and underbrush start to emerge as the wine has time in the glass. The palate is incredible – power, opulence and elegance unite to make a full and complex body, full of sap and voluptuousness with an incredible texture. Drink now to 2035
Pierre Naigeon believes passionately in sustainable farming. He looks to produce wines full of fragrance, revealing the natural terroir. The vines are grown in the Grand Cru vineyard of Charmes Chambertin, in a 25-hectare parcel of 60-year-old vines. The vineyards are meticulously managed with the use of organic fertilisers; no herbicides or insecticides are used. A sustainable approach is undertaken with ploughing, careful pruning and a green harvest.
