Description
Since its establishment by Stuart Reginald Hooper in 1974, Bannockburn Vineyards has been at the vanguard of the Australian fine wine story, producing vineyard specific wines of the highest quality from the start. It lies 25 kilometres northwest of Geelong, located in the Moorabool Valley sub-region, just outside the township of Bannockburn. The estate comprises 26 vineyard blocks – including the iconic Serré vineyard (now the site of Australia’s oldest close-planted Pinot Noir vines) – planted to seven grape varieties, of which Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Sauvignon Blanc and Shiraz form the key quintet. Here, Bannockburn’s predominantly mature vines are rooted in one of Victorias’ most unique low-fertility terroirs; volcanic surface debris and ancient sea beds running to richer and darker soils, layered over predominantly limestone bedrock.
As we have said before, under Matt Holmes, the style of Bannockburn Pinot Noir is now less extravagant than that of his predecessors. Today we see more purity and balance, more harmony in the glass derived in part from the benefits of organic viticulture and partly from decisions made in the winery: a more pragmatic use of whole bunches and an earlier bottling regime.
2022 was an exceptional vintage in Victoria and winemaker Matt Holmes says “2022 is better than both 2021 and 2020. It was a year that gave fruit with great acidities and concentration .. There’s an immediate appeal and charm to the 2022s. Where patience was required for the 2021s, these are good to go” Matt speaks of the stability now in place across all aspects of Bannockburn, and how this enables him to keep driving quality regardless of the season. “The vines and soils are really healthy, so we’re making more consistent wines each year,” It’s no coincidence the quality of Bannockburn’s wines has never been higher.
This “outstanding” release is drawn from Bannockburn’s entire spectrum of vineyards (planted in 1976, 1997 and 2007), including fruit from the iconic, close-planted blocks. All the sites have volcanic loam and dark clay over a limestone base and are planted to various clones, mainly MV6 with a smattering of the Dijon (or Bernard) clones 114, 115 and 777. Hand-picked fruit from each block fermented separately. Twenty per cent whole bunches and a small portion of carbonic was used. The wine was then pressed to a combination of hogsheads and puncheons (20% new) for a ten-month élevage before blending.
Bursting with bright red fruit and with Bannockburn’s savoury/earthy signature woven throughout, there’s enticing purity, great fruit tannin and a deliciously supple mouthfeel. A touch of sweet-and-sour complexity on the finish offers a glimpse of things to come as it evolves, but it’s absolutely singing already. Dive in.
95+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “I guess that you’d call this light but its length and general insistence is right up there. Indeed over the course of 24 hours this just built and expanded in the most impressive of ways. It’s a minerally pinot noir, smoky and spicy, with red cherried flavour run through with herbs and twigs and undergrowth. In its infancy, now, it somehow manages to be quite remarkably complex; it will only add from here. Certainly it’s light but this is an outstanding pinot noir.”
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review “With a medium-light colour tinged with purple, it has a beguiling five-spice and dried herb bouquet with some sousbois and earthiness, all very complex. Toasty/smoky oak adds extra savouriness. The wine is rich and full in the mouth with a core of fruit sweetness and an enveloping web of fine, silky tannins. A fine wine with real deliciousness.”
RRP $75 Our Price $63.99
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