Pinot Noir Tasting

 This year was the 17th time Bistro Moncur, Sydney hosted the Australian Pinot Noir Tasting. It was fantastic in the early years, when every producer of note was represented. Then it started to get very crowded and I stopped going. It was no longer enjoyable. This year I went back. Some of the leading producers, such as Bass Phillip, Bindi, Bannockburn are no longer there, but there is still plenty to choose from. And I do not know if it was the 'cost of living' issue or the entry fee, but it was not overly crowded.

Still, there is not much time for reflection, so I describe the tasted wines in bands, as I tend to do from large tastings. My focus was on the premium wines on offer.

The wine of the night was a big surprise, even more so as the fruit is from relatively young vines and mostly bought in. It was the 2021 Ossa Pinot Noir from the East Coast of Tasmania, near Swansea. It is an intense wine with a complex palate of cherry fruit and forest floor and great length (96 points).

Very close behind were three other wines. The 2020 By Farr Tout Pres is kind of an extreme wine with 100% whole bunch and 100% new oak. It is a savoury and elegant wine. The 2021 Tolpuddle Pinot Noir  has a complex palate with a lot of interest, which beat the slight fruitiness of the wine. The 2021 Kooyong Haven Pinot Noir, from a very protected vineyard, is a masculine wine and impressed with good length and firm tannins (all 95 points).

The next group (93/94 points) was also attractive. This included the 2019 Glaetzer-Dixon Reveur (good depth, earthy notes), the 2019 Lowestoft "La Maison" which was quite a contrast, being quite light and elegant, the 2021 Kooyong Meres Pinot Noir (racy and long), the 2020 Dalrymple SS Coal River Valley (great front palate, a bit short), the 2018 Levantine Hill Colleen's Paddock, the 2019 Lowestoft Single Vineyard and two Oakridge wines, the 2021 864 and the 2021 Hazeldine (great value).

Then we come to wines which were still very good, but lacked certain aspects in their composition. This included the 2021 Giant Steps Primavera (pretty, not very intense), 2021 Shaw and Smith (similar), 2019 Apsley Gorge (not so balanced),  2020 Moorooduc McIntyre (structure?), a couple of Stefano Lubiana wines, 2018 Gala Estate 'Black Label' (a bit simple), Soumah Equilibrio (a little light).

And the one wine which did not make the 90 points hurdle was perhaps surprisingly the 2021 MacForbes Woori Yallock with its flat mouthfeel. 

Overall, the times when we saw bubble gum or faulty Pinot Noir wines are truly gone. On the other hand, I did not come across a wine which really knocked me out. It seems everybody is moving to the middle of the road: cherry fruit, savoury notes and forest floor, fine tannins, and hopefully a long finish. Anybody with a name ready to do some funk?