Pinot Noir Challenge Winners Tasting
There is an enormous amount of excitement and energy around pinot noir at the moment; not only in Australia but across the globe. The best wines in Australia are grown not made, and pinot noir requires sensitive and thoughtful farming to be at its best, which we will discover through the course of the challenge. MATT HARROP, Chair of Judges
There's a reason pinot noir is sometimes called The Holy Grail of wine. At it's greatest expression it is a variety that can provide a visceral and intellectual excitement unrivalled by any other varietal on the planet. It's ethereal, beautiful and for those who get bitten by the pinot bug, it can become a lifelong obsession.
Obviously, the greatest wines come from Burgundy's Cote d'Or. This unremarkable strip of land planted hundreds of years ago by the Cistercian monks is still the benchmark, but the New World is fast catching up, and at a fraction of the price.
In Australia, we've been gradually honding in on regions and sites that suit the variety best. We've improved clonal material and honed our viticulture and winemaking to suit to a point that we're now one of the world's best pinot producing regions.
The Australian Pinot Challenge is the premier wine show specifically dedicated to identifying the greatest expressions of the variety in every producing region of Australia.
Entries are judged in regional classes where mdeals are awarded and a wine is identified as the top gold from each panel. From there, the top golds go into the run-off for the wine of show.
This year's show the continuing ascendency of Tasmania as a pinot hub and reinforced the traditional pinot noir areas of Yarra and Mornington performing well. The Adelaide Hills continues ot stake a claim for incusion as a region of pinot significance while Gippsland continues to tease with one noteable gold medal.
The wine of show this year came from Clarence House Block 1. The property is managed and produced by the dynamic and talented duo of Anna Pooley and Justin Bubb.
It's a fabulous lineup of wines, covering the tapestry of our own pinot noit landscape.
Enjoy
Michael McNamara
There's a reason pinot noir is sometimes called The Holy Grail of wine. At it's greatest expression it is a variety that can provide a visceral and intellectual excitement unrivalled by any other varietal on the planet. It's ethereal, beautiful and for those who get bitten by the pinot bug, it can become a lifelong obsession.
Obviously, the greatest wines come from Burgundy's Cote d'Or. This unremarkable strip of land planted hundreds of years ago by the Cistercian monks is still the benchmark, but the New World is fast catching up, and at a fraction of the price.
In Australia, we've been gradually honding in on regions and sites that suit the variety best. We've improved clonal material and honed our viticulture and winemaking to suit to a point that we're now one of the world's best pinot producing regions.
The Australian Pinot Challenge is the premier wine show specifically dedicated to identifying the greatest expressions of the variety in every producing region of Australia.
Entries are judged in regional classes where mdeals are awarded and a wine is identified as the top gold from each panel. From there, the top golds go into the run-off for the wine of show.
This year's show the continuing ascendency of Tasmania as a pinot hub and reinforced the traditional pinot noir areas of Yarra and Mornington performing well. The Adelaide Hills continues ot stake a claim for incusion as a region of pinot significance while Gippsland continues to tease with one noteable gold medal.
The wine of show this year came from Clarence House Block 1. The property is managed and produced by the dynamic and talented duo of Anna Pooley and Justin Bubb.
It's a fabulous lineup of wines, covering the tapestry of our own pinot noit landscape.
Enjoy
Michael McNamara
-
Michael Hall Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2021REGIONAL WINNER ADLEAIDE HILLS PINOT NOIR - THE PINOT CHALLENGE
PRE-ARRIVAL - DUE JANUARY 2023
The Mawson Road Vineyard in Lenswood has a steep south-westerly aspect and sits at an average elevation of 560m. It's planted to four of the classic Pinot clones (777, 114, 115, MV6) and this combination of ultra-cool site and clonal diversity offers a wine of great drive and complexity.
For wine nerds like me: Fair winter rains and a cool summer gave us a healthy crop of excellent quality. Hand-picked on the 24th of March, wild yeast fermented in closed puncheons and open fermenter, 75% whole bunch, matured for 11 months in French oak (25% new, François Frères). Unfined. MICHAEL HALL
2021Pinot noirAustralia340$62.00 As low as $55.80