Hurley Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir 2019

Description

Hurley Vineyard wraps north to east around the crest of a little volcanic hill in Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula of Victoria, Australia. Kevin Bell and Tricia Byrnes are immersed in the task of showcasing what their 3 differing single vineyard plots or climats can express. Burgundy clearly inspired them to this endeavour, not to mimic the wines from the Cote d’Or in terms of taste but the ethos of single site expressions, terrior driven wines. Planted in 1998 and 1999 the estate has 3.43 hectares of Pinot Noir across 3 clearly defined climats: Lodestone, Hommage and Garamond.

Kevin says: “Our principles are: organic viticulture, non-irrigation, low yields and true expression of the terroir of a vineyard and the individual climats within a vineyard”.

Hurley Vineyard’s position receives abundant sunshine and free-moving air, yet is well-protected from strong winds by 100 year old pine trees and the surrounding topography. The hill is capped by stony, red-brown earth. This ‘Older Volcanic’ soil type is quick to warm and slow to cool, and retains moisture and drains freely.

Winemaking consists of hand-picked fruit arriving to the winery where grapes are cooled overnight before 100% destemmed whole berries (no whole-bunch) go into 2 ton open top fermenters. Pre-ferment maceration cold soak of approximately one week before fermentation with natural yeasts. Pieage twice a day then post ferment maceration 5 to 7 days vintage dependent. Gravity fed into a basket press then into barrel for aging. Kevin and Tricia are passionately committed to one cooper, Sirugue, based in Nuit St George. Kevin highlights that he loves the fact the staves are air-dried for a minimum of 4 years before they are used for the barrels, giving the wood time to season and low toasting. 1/4 to 1/3 new oak for the elevage of each wine, 20 months approx total aging, no racking at any stage until bottling and under gravity.

“The Estate bottling is declassified Lodestone, Hommage and Garamond barrels, offering us simply superb value vs the efforts to produce. Kevin & Tricia would like preferably to simply bottle 3 single climats every vintage but they refuse to bottle any barrel not befitting the level they have come to expect from each site. Winemaking & Elevage is exactly the same making for a seriously high quality Estate Pinot Noir blend.

“A brilliant mid-garnet colour leads to a complex and evocative bouquet of raspberries and red cherries nuanced with cooked meat and cake spice. Intense red and black cherries and red currents burst in the supple, mouthfilling palate and linger in a long aftertaste. Fresh acidity, a creamy mouthfeel and ultra-fine tannins contribute to a pure, finely balanced wine of medium weight, considerable complexity and strong varietal typicity.” Winemaker, Kevin Bell.  Alc 13.4% . This really is a superb release.. no single vineyard Hommage made in 2019 so no doubt all that fruit has bolstered this and stepped it up! Don’t miss this.

Brand new vintage!   

93 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front “The much celebrated wines of Hurley doth arrive! Svelte and yet a sense of lushness, bright cherry juice, a film of graphite minerality, excellent length and persistence. A lot of structure too. Fine, dusty tannins hang off the wine beautifully. It feels fresh but there’s a sense of dried leaves and undergrowth in the mix. Evocative, charming pinot noir.” June 2021

RRP $56   Our Special Price $46.99