Description
This leading Pipers River producer in Tassie has done well here. Michael Caldwell (viticulturalist/winemaker- with experience at Te Kairanga and Joseph Chromy) overseas the 12 hectare vineyard and employs classical Pinot Noir winemaking techniques: hand sorting fruit, cold soaking, whole bunch inclusion, hand-plunging and wild fermentation; to create wines that combine fruit intensity with layers of texture and persistent varietal characters.
Notes from the winemaker: “Since the first black cluster vines were available for purchase from Tasmania in 1827, Tasmania has been recognised as a producer of quality Pinot Noir. It was the sloping hills overlooking Bass Strait that made the site unique and inspired the Hill-Smith family to purchase the vineyard, along with distinct single sites around Tasmania in their pursuit to produce the perfect single site Pinot. While low rainfall and drying winds are characteristics of the Coal River Valley, the sunshine provides our wines with a naturally deeper colour and concentration of fruit with fine acidity.
Our Coal River Valley site was planted in the late 1990s. The soil is predominantly basalt over dolerite with great depth and texture, allowing vines to access moisture during the drier summer and autumn months. The two most defining characteristics of this region – low rainfall and warm, dry conditions – are balanced by cool nights and low humidity, making it ideal for Pinot Noir.
A cool, wet spring followed a winter of above average rainfall. Temperatures were below average to the end of November, resulting in later flowering and lower yields. December saw a return to warmer temperatures and a flush of growth from good soil moisture. In the third week of February a rise in daily temperatures matched with typical cool nights, persisted through harvest and into May.
The fruit was handpicked, 94% was destemmed and added to the remaining 6% left as whole bunches for fermentation. Natural fermentation commenced after three days and the must was plunged
three times daily. The wine was pressed and placed into French oak barriques (25% new) for 12 months.
Alluring aromas of red cherries, forest floor, liquorice and flint adorn purple raspberry and violets. The palate is layered with plump red berries and spice, tightly wound by fine natural acidity and silky tannins, a hallmark of this site. A wine of power and restraint that will continue to develop.”
95 points, Tyson Stelzer, Halliday’s Wine Companion 2023 “The Coal River is one of my favourite places for pinot noir in Tasmania. There’s a beautiful fragrance to this wine, somewhere between roses and violets, holding from the first moment of its captivating bouquet to the last trace of its enduring finish. Pitch-perfect red cherries run in tandem, intricately upheld by fine, mineral tannins. A triumph.”
RRP $73 Our Price $68.99
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