Handpicked Regional Selections Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
This is a typical cool climate Yarra Valley Pinot Noir with aromas of cherries and summer berries and hints of spice and oak. The palate is bright with red fruits and soft tannin. This is a versatile wine that will match well with many foods; try it with a charcuterie platter, pizza/pasta and porcini mushrooms or barbecued meats.
Toolangi Estate Pauls Lane Pinot Noir
Expect layers of fleshy Pinot fruit, suggesting rose petal, plum and earth, balanced by fine, powdery tannins and a long complex finish that perfumes the mouth with sour cherries and sappy freshness. The Pauls Lane Pinot was hand harvested from Toolangi's 2001 plantings (MV6 clone grapes in E Block rows 46-66), partially de-stemmed (50% whole bunches retained) and naturally fermented in open top wooden fermenters. In total, the wine spent 23 days on skins before being pressed to French oak (20% new) for eight months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. "A producer that demonstrates a deep commitment to terroir in producing Australias finest and most distinctive wines." Nick Stock, Good Wine Guide In case you hadnt heard the good news, Helmut Konecsny, the owner of Rochford Wines, has purchased Toolangi Vineyards and has immediately started ringing in the changes. Of course, its early days, but from what we have seen so far, the future for Toolangi now looks very, very bright. Apart from the new packaging, Konecsny and his team seem very serious about rejuvenating and upgrading the work in the vines. This was, after all, one of the few Yarra producers to engage the services of renowned soil scientist Claude Bourguignon on his recent visit to Australia, and the Toolangi vineyard was one of the sites he analysed. In terms of winemaking, Toolangi will now control its own destiny with the talented duo of Kaspar Hermann and Kelly Healey working closely with seasoned Yarra viticulturist John Evans. Hermans CV includes stints at Seville Estate, Viticoltori De Concillis in Campania, Coldstream Hills, Punch (formally Diamond Valley) and Mount Mary where he worked as assistant winemaker for 8 years before joining Toolangi. Kelly Healey started his wine career in Otago in his homeland of New Zealand before donning the Blundsones at Chandon in the Yarra Valley and Moet & Chandon in India, followed by a spell at Kilchurn in Macedon until he accepted the role working alongside Kaspar. Crucial to the Toolangi team is experienced viticulturist, John Evans. Johns previous experience includes Chief Viticulturist at Yering Station for 14 years, Vineyard Manager at Yarra Ridge and worked at De Bortoli, as well as various Vineyard Consulting roles including the setup and redevelopment of Toolangi Vineyard in 2001, which he has continued to this day. Safe to say, John knows the Yarra like the back of his hand and exactly how to get the best from the Toolangi vineyard. Another positive is that there are currently only two tiers of winethe Toolangi and Pauls Lane labels. The first set of wines under the new team hail from 2018. Under the new regime, there is no inoculation for any of the wines, the Pinots take in a large portion of whole bunch ferments, and the reds are neither fined nor filtered. The winemakers also take a balanced approach to new oak, so even the top label is capped at 20% new barrels. Its very early days, yet the first set of wines makes a statementan excellent statement. Going forward it will be fascinating to see the consequences of Konecsnys and the new teams intention to apply the time honoured vigneron model on the Toolangi wines. The future is bright.
Bellarine Estate Phil's Pinot Noir
Beautifully perfumed, earthy with cinnamon spice. Complemented by rose petals and lavender. Medium bodied, tightly wound and finely structured. Powerful yet subtle. Think dark cherries, currants and toasty oak. With an underlying earthy, forest floor and smoky tobacco. Decanted this wine opens up like a peacocks tail.
Punt Road Gamay
Barwon Ridge Pinot Noir
A bright, fresh and delicate cool climate Pinot Noir. Whole bunches and a wild yeast ferment were used to produce lingering savoury flavours in the wine.
Denton Pinot Noir
Medium weight with subtle power of black fruit and cherry, rhubarb and rose petal lift.
Thousand Candles G Field Pinot Noir
Dont miss this rare chance to secure a magnificent wine from a top producer thats in seriously short supply. Made by an acclaimed winemaker at the top of their game, this is a slice of wine history you dont want to miss. Add it to your collection while you can.
Denton Shed Pinot Noir
Animale Pinot Noir
Animale is a collaboration between Arfion and Imbibo wines. Arfion simply means “Our Wine” in Scottish Gaelic. Originally from New Zealand, Winemaker Dave Mackintosh established Arfion with his father Brian and brother Jimmy in 2011. The time was right to build a small independent wine business, where they could be hands on, free to take some risks, and make wines that they truly love. Dave has been obsessed with making wine since ’98 and respects numerous styles. This has driven Arfion to mix things up to create classic, single site, single variety expressions as well as multi-vineyard blends and lo-fi offerings. Sourcing grapes from highly skilled, sustainable growers from across the Yarra, we take care in making sure the site and variety are in harmony throughout the season. Low impact winemaking adds layers of flavour and texture. The Pinot noir is a blend of vineyards from the Upper and Lower Yarra Valley, as well as a blend of juicy carbonic fruit and more restrained destemmed ferments. It is a pure Yarra, Pinot expression showing cherry and red berry flavours followed by a detailed savoury finish.
Toolangi Yarra Valley Pinot Noir
Established in 1995, Toolangi Vineyard is in the Yarra Valley adjoining the Toolangi State Forest. This single-site vineyard on fine clay loam produces wines with distinctive personalities, each wine showing a strong sense of place. The vines were cropped low, and the fruit was hand-harvested from 20-year-old vines of MV6 Pinot Noir clone. Fruit for the 2022 Pinot Noir was hand-picked on the 11th of March, The fruit was destemmed as whole berries, with 10% left as whole bunches. There was a short cold soak prior to fermentation and the wine was then left on skins for 21 days. It was then pressed to French barriques and puncheons (less than 10% new) for malolactic conversion and left on lees in oak for 10 months.