Description
“Named after Robin Farr (my mum) Fruit from the Côte Vineyard a close-planted parcel on an exposed slope, with hillsides facing north, northeast and east. This wine is pretty and so very perfumed. The Côte sites simply produce amazing smoothness and calmness that stretches the length of the palate, as with the GC. There’s an abundance of fruit leading to fine and detailed tannin structure. To Robyn, cheers.” Nick Farr.
The RP Pinot Noir (RP – Robyn Pamela) is in recognition of the matriarch. It is not only the support and goffering that Robyn has endured for Gary’s 40 year career. She has been in the vineyard and planted the first vines, driven the tractors, filled barrels and pigeaged at midnight. If we are ever a man down Robyn has always been the first one we have called to fill the void no matter the job, no matter the time of day. You can always count on mum.
The fruit for this wine is sourced from the Cote Vineyard as is the GC Chardonnay. A close planted/high density planting of Pinot Noir on a exposed cote. These hillsides facing North, North East and East will be the backbone of the Farr dynasty for decades to come.
They consist of the most suitable clones, rootstocks, trellising and management you fill find for our landscape. This is our tribute to what ‘Gazza’ has achieved and provoked over 40 years not only in our region but for chardonnay and pinot noir of Australia.
The North cote is a red to brown loam with buckshot stones across the surface. The most exposed of the three cotes but is harvested last of all because of the large amount of clay, holding valuable moisture for a long longer time than the other slopes.
The North East cote is a continuation of buckshot until the soil becomes black and lined with limestone moving towards the bottom of the rows and a depression that divides limestone from sandstone. At the highest point of the vineyard you will find small amounts of sandstone in the grey sandy loam.
The East cote is divided through the center of the slope by a rise. Black volcanic soil with fragmented limestone in one direction and grey loam with buckshot stones in the other direction. Soil is King as the East cote has the least amount of clay and therefore water holding capacity resulting in it being harvest first even though it is the coolest cote of the three.
The fruit is hand-picked and sorted in the vineyard, then fermented in an open-top fermenter. Between 40 to 50 per cent of the fruit will be stemmed and then cold soaked for four days. We use only the natural yeast for the fermentation process, which takes roughly 19 days. Grape-stomping (known as pigeage) will occur two to three times a day depending on the amount of extraction required, and the wine is then placed in 50 to 60 per cent new Allier barrels by gravity. It is racked by gas after secondary fermentation, then again at 18 months to be bottled.
About the 2016 … “This wine is pretty and so very perfumed. The cote sites simply produce amazing smoothness and calmness that stretches the length of the palate as with the GC. Abundance of fruit leading to fine and detailed tannin structure. We have been playing with the fruit from these vineyards for more than 8 years, fine tuning the style of wine that these vineyards are producing. To Robyn, Cheers.” Nick Farr
98 points and included in Best of the Best in James Halliday’s 2020 Australian Wine Companion “A multifaceted blend of pinot from tightly spaced propitious sites, all on an exposed hillside: loams, gravel, clays and limestone abutting sandstone. This complex geology imparts a depth and multitude of textures to the resultant wine, a delicious and sumptuous potpourri of sour cherry, strawberry, damson plum, five-spice and lilac. Beautifully perfumed and all soprano; the tannins a curtain of a detailed weave. Plenty of whole-bunch spice, too, as is the estate’s wont Buried. Barely discernible. Delicious. Balletic and verging on effortless. “
“…The bouquet is superbly fragrant, high-toned and beautifully aromatic, with a lot of stemmy aromas among its great complexity. It shows some development now, adding up to splendid character. The wine is medium to full-bodied and chock-a-block with fragrant herbs and red fruits – raspberry, red cherry and redcurrant, with extraordinary intensity and great clarity. It’s succulently fruit-sweet in the mid-palate and very intense, finishing with well-judged soft, fine tannins and a clean, supple-textured aftertaste. A glorious pinot. 98 Pts” Huon Hooke
“A juicy and tannic red showing lots of berries and cedar with light, toffee and leather character. Full body, chewy tannins and a flavorful finish. Needs time to soften. Structured pinot. Better after 2022. 94pts” James Suckling
RRP $127 LIMITED.
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