Light, bright cherry red in the glass with pink hues, a very reflective young wine bounces bright and brilliant beams of radiant typical pinot noir colours from the glass.
A lifted bouquet is easily dominated with red sour cherries and as the wine opens further you begin to encounter a spicy combination of pepper and star anise, a little earthy quality and some forest floor/undergrowth/mushroomy aspect begins to exude from somewhere a little more deeply buried in the complex redolence.
The palate feel is round and mouth filling, the wine is long and luscious and causes your mouth to perform puckering motions as though it was filled with red lollies demanding a sucking appreciative release of their otherwise deeply contained delights. Very sour red cherries coat your taste buds with explosive flavour, the sour aspects immediately begin to transform to a lovely savouriness and this slides into some forest floor flavour experience followed by a little lifted spice, the acid is fresh but balanced and the tannins extremely fine and velvety. The entire experience is presented on a granitic mineral base – another expression of Granite Belt Terroir.
The 2018 vintage was undeniably spectacular for Pinot Noir on The Granite Belt and this one presents irrefutable evidence of that truth. If you want to experience the best The Granite Belt has to offer in Pinot Noir then get some of these. There are three different wines, Bin 1 made using Carbonic Maceration for the initial ferment, Bin 2 (this one) with hand picked grapes, 5 weeks maceration with hand plunging, free run juice only followed by 9 months in old French oak barrels. Bin 3, same as Bin 2 but with the addition of ‘pressings’ for a bigger wine.
The 2018 Pinot Noir at Ridgemill is all sold out and likely the one at Casley Mt Hutton is as well, I suspect those wines were made with fruit from the Robert Channon Estate, but these are available now at Robert Channon Wines, so go get’em.
Lastly I am thrilled that Paola is making the wines at this winery now, she’s a rare talent.
Tasted: Friday 6th August, 2021 without food and then with over several hours.
Alcohol: 14%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $40
Suggested Drinking Window: 2021 – 2028
Winemaker: Paola Cabezas Bono
Fruit Source: Estate
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