From the Yarra Valley’s legendary Willowlake Vineyard, and the equally legendary Dave Mackintosh, this is a pinot noir of real detail and depth, but you can also ignore all that and just focus on its charming drinkability.
Tasting note
Lifted red fruits on the nose, red cherries, wild forest berries and poached rhubarb, with a savoury overlay of spices, orange peel and bitter herbs. There’s a generosity to this but it’s elegant, too, with supple texture but a general feeling of savouriness, with finely grained but pithy grape-skin tannins and a little smoky whole bunch note. This is packed with flavour, detail and depth of fruit, but it’s also a wine of such elegance and poise. This is very confident, assured winemaking, letting the fruit and site speak.
Themes of this wine
Yarra Valley
The Yarra Valley, about 50 km north-east of Melbourne, is one of Australia’s premier wine regions, and one of the country’s coldest viticultural zones. The regional champions are chardonnay and pinot noir, with cabernet and shiraz in more than able support. Aside from the vinous pedigree, the Yarra is also one of the best serviced wine regions for visitors, with a wealth of cellar doors and restaurants, and ample accommodation across the price spectrum.
Read more about Yarra Valley, here.
Pinot noir
Pinot noir is one of the wine world’s most revered grapes. Notoriously fickle to grown and make, it makes what many see as the pinnacle of red wine in France’s Burgundy, but it’s also found many happy homes around the world, and none more so than in Australia across our cooler viticultural regions.