Bob McDonald

9.5

Always a treat to try a Bell Hill Pinot Noir. Quite light in colour. Wonderful florals of violet, roses and a stalky whole bunch note - a nose reminiscent of Vosne Romanee. A light to medium weight palate showing more body than the colour would indicate. Strong Sous Bois character with red fruits and great persistence. I have very few wines from Canterbury NZ but on this showing, should have more. This is Bell Hill’s 2nd ranked Cuvée. I have a few bottles of their 1st ranked Cuvée but they need more cellar time before popping the cork, as does this Old Weka Pass 2016. A great Pinot with further potential. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.1

Pale to mid crimson and a little cloudy - a characteristic one used to see occasionally in Bass Phillip as they are bottled unfiltered which adds to the flavour intensity. A beautiful perfume of whole bunch notes, sous bois and a touch of toffee. Amazing intensity for Bass Phillip’s 5th ranked Pinot Noir cuvée. Sweet and savoury fruits. Delivers more fruit on the palate than one would expect from the nose. For short term drinking but still delivers the Bass Phillip stamp of quality. — 5 years ago

Bob Dylan

9.4

Love. Different blend but same effect as last year. Thanks Eben! — 5 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.3

Super impressive Pinot. Handles the 40% new oak with aplomb and the whole bunch influence by no means dominating. Roses and peony flowers lead before dark cherry, plum and boysenberry, with nuances of stem use, slight smoky and touch sweet oak vaneer. Medium bodied, with fine, sappy tannins and superb supporting length. — 6 years ago

Lindsey

9.2

@ lou wine tasting, favorite of the bunch. Medium body, floral aroma, tannic and good 🙃 — 7 years ago

with Jeremy and Blair

Peter Coulthard

8.9

Not bad all in all. Pretty good and would buy again but not a knockout. Pleasant. — 8 years ago

Trevor Maskell

9.3

Wow. Sexy wine here. Complex fruits, whole bunch deliciousness. Smooth and supple, youthful acid and great length. Lovely. — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.7

The first of the reds at the Grand Cru Burgundy Dinner Heady aromas of plum and violets with a high percentage of whole bunch, around 85 to 100 percent apparently. - more fruit driven though, before the Sous Bois characters develop with a few more years. Ramon, the importer, said 12 bottles came into Australia and 4 bottles consumed at this dinner. Red fruits on the medium weight spicy palate - 70% new oak. Close to my WOTN. Interestingly Negociants the importer are also the sole importers of DRC into Australia and Ramon said they get much more DRC Echezeaux than Dujac Echezeaux. — 5 years ago

Jeremy Pollard

9.0

Beautifully structured and restrained. Nice balance of savoury whole bunch and concentrated fruit, delicate yet persistent. Still young, with its best yet to come. — 5 years ago

with Sam

Bob McDonald

9.3

One of my favourite Aussie Pinots over the years such that we can usually pick it from its nose - same with Bass Phillip Pinot Noir. The Freycinet has spicy savoury dark cherry bouquet with a touch of caramel oak - the whole bunch influence integrated. Lovely balance on the medium bodied palate finishing with silky tannins. Always in the conversation when discussing Australia’s better Pinots. Made for extended cellaring of 15+ years from vintage. — 6 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Delectable - this is the Perrot Minot Charmes Chambertin as per the photo. The 3rd of the 9 Grand Crus from Gevrey we tasted. Colour of mid Ruby. Hint of boot polish on the nose. Some whole bunch astringent notes on the palate. Barely medium bodied with good acid. A little more mid palate flesh would not go astray. I usually find Charmes a little on the lighter side but sometimes it surprises. — 6 years ago

Scott Rowe

9.3

Tastes familiar, it screams Tassy Pinot.
For the love of whole bunch. — 7 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

This is the 2009 Shaw and Smith Shiraz not the Chardonnay at the Shaw & Smith comparative Shiraz tasting. Lovely nose of savoury plum. No whole bunch which the 2015 and later vintages now employ. Richer and more traditional SA Shiraz in the 2009. — 8 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

Mid Ruby in colour. Initial aromas of red and black fruits particularly raspberry and also whole bunch notes. Rich and sweet on the palate with plums and cherries finishing with smooth tannins. Fruit for this Pinot was sourced from the Coal Valley, East Coast and Channel sub-regions of Tasmania - the latter adding that richness like you see in Home Hill Estate. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

8.9

A peppery note on the nose showing evidence of whole bunch in the ferment. Rich red fruits of cherry and raspberry on the palate showing more new world in the warm 2015 vintage with ripe tannins. Some new sources apparently in this year’s blend including declassified Beaune and Monthelie villages alongside the traditional Santenay villages and Santenay 1er cru Commes. Excellent quality for a Village wine and great QPR. — 5 years ago

Pinotman /// Andreas

8.9

Rhubarb sauer vegetables. Sour red currants. Really sour. Needs to mellow out. Fine tannins. Pretty good but I am not 100% in on this wine. Not drink now for sure. Tart. — 5 years ago

Scott Taddeo

9.1

Slightly muted nose with accents of decaying rose petal, tart red fruits, wirh cherry stem and ginger indicative of whole bunch use here. Sappy tannins. Decent length. Good village wine for sure. — 6 years ago

Bret Barker

9.2

Birthday wine tasting-not a bad bottle in the bunch! Very good but to young as well, fruit really didn’t show itself — 7 years ago

with Ben, Jason and 1 other

Mark Flesher

9.5

REALLY nice bottle of wine. This wine has a lot going on. Sourced from a 2.2 acre plot that is right across the street from Diamond Creek, the Dyers put love into everything they make. And it shows. This wine has a blackberry and floral perfume that is intoxicating. The nose was very reminiscent of Cab Franc and in a blind tasting that would have been my guess. The entry of this wine is delicately powerful. It has the blackberry power, the cassis of a younger wine, but the finesse in the middle with notes of graham cracker, grilled meats, herbs, pie spice, cola, and BRAMBLE....just a LOT going on here!! This wine is still very locked up, and takes a BUNCH of coaxing to get it out of its shell. Once it does, it does NOT disappoint. Very pumped about being able to spend some time with Dawnine and Bill in the next couple of weeks! — 8 years ago

Mickey Huang

9.3

Deep red purple, medium + tannin, on the nose is herbaceous, stemmy, bright lifted & peppery blackcurrent juice! Such a complex Shiraz! Had it with grilled steak and it is absolutely perfect! — 8 years ago