5 STAR WINERY RATING – WINE COMPANION
Before its potential was fully realised, there were plenty of industry whispers that what would later be called the Tolpuddle vineyard was capable of great things. Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW (Shaw + Smith, MMAD) came across the mature vineyard (planted in 1988) in the Coal River Valley on what they describe as a reconnaissance trip. Buying was not on the agenda then, but the opportunity was not to be missed. The first wines were released in small quantities from the 2012 vintage, and the chardonnay and pinot noir pair have come to be, just over a decade later, some of our most revered exemplars. And rightly so, with winemaker Adam Wadewitz effortlessly coaxing out wines of graceful power, fragrance and refined tension, which drink engagingly on release, but have now proven to age just as positively. WINE COMPANION