Thursday, October 8, 2009

Pipers Brook 'The Lyre' Pinot Noir

How often does it happen to you that you are totally excited about a wine you are drinking? Sip by sip, glass by glass? It does not happen very often to me, but it did happen last night, after I opened my only bottle of the 2000 Pipers Brook 'The Lyre'.

I don't normally hold back Pinot Noir this long, in fact this was my 2nd oldest bottle, but it was in perfect condition. The Lyre is a single vineyard Pinot Noir, the pinnacle of Pipers Brook red wines, only produced in the best years.

The wine is of medium weight, with predominantly raspberry flavours, but also some dark cherry. It has quite good concentration and mouthfeel for a Tasmanian Pinot. Surprisingly, the primary fruit was still very lively and there were not many forest floor characteristics on the palate.

The outstanding feature was the texture of the wine. A wonderful balance between fruit and oak, very smooth and silky tannins and the presence of the famous Burgundy 'funnel', as the wine opened up on the back palate to a long finish - fantastic. Should have bought more of it.

Score: 96/+++

3 comments:

Chris Plummer said...

Glad to hear you thoroughly enjoyed this Alontin. I've been reading some of your older posts and noticed you're not the biggest fan of Tassie pinot.

Previously I would've agreed with you (thinking that Tassie pinot was better suited to bubbles), but after the 2007 and 2008 vintages I now feel that Tasmania is now on the verge of much bigger things with pinot noir. What are your opinions?

I too have consumed Bay of Fires' Pinot Noirs at tastings and not been overly impressed, but when I started drinking entire bottles at home (2007 and 2005 in particular - must make my way to 2008 soon), I found it was definitely a wine which improved sip by sip, glass by glass. You're right that they're not exceptionally complex or savoury, but they're just so damn delicious!

Cheers,
Chris Plummer
Australian Wine Journal

Chris Plummer said...

Great blog by the way! Wish I had of caught onto it sooner!

Alontin said...

Thank you for your interesting comments. I agree, the Pinots from Tasmania are getting better and they are very easy to drink.

I will certainly continue to try them. I just think they are a bit too hyped up right now, and the ring around Melbourne is still the best region for outstanding and individualistic Pinot in this country.