Description
Garagiste is definitely one of Mornington Peninsula’s brightest rising stars! Named in honour of the ‘Garagiste’ – ‘garage’ vintners of Bordeaux who thumbed their nose at the rigid traditions of chateaux, winemaker Barney Flanders makes succulent, finely tuned and elegantly crafted cool-climate Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris, highlighting the subtleties of the Peninsula’s different sub-regions with small batches of very limited and high quality wines. Fruit is sourced predominantly from highly prized Merricks Grove vineyard, Silverwood vineyard (Balnarring) and Hugh Robinson vineyard in Moorooduc. Since their first release in 2006 their wines are highly sought after, highly regarded and like their labels, very cool!
The fruit for this wine was hand-sorted (twice!) and fermented in two ways: one fermenter of whole berries and another of whole bunches. Both fermentations were natural, with a 23-day maceration and gentle extraction (light pump-overs and a few gentle plunges). These two portions were then blended, and the wine matured in 300-litre hogsheads (François Frères, roughly 25% new) and spent 11 months on lees before being bottled unfiltered.
This is a beautiful and pretty damn serious Pinot! Really, really fine on both the nose and palate, with red and dark cherries, subtle nettle and classy oak spice notes. The palate is beautifully pitched with the same characters as the nose, a superb powdery structure and a twist of iodine on the perfumed finish. A bargain.
95 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “All the Garagiste wines are good. This is a bit better than that. It’s a standout release. Power, complexity and length. Graphite, black cherry, stewed strawberries and sweet, clovey spice. Woodsmoke. Walnuts. A strong savoury side without it being twiggy or necessarily bitter, though there’s a pleasant suggestion of the latter. It’s the push through the finish that really elevates it. Super.”
RRP $53 *Special 6 pack buy $39.99 when you buy 6 bottles*
