Port Phillip Estate ‘Red Hill’ Pinot Noir 2022

Description

Port Phillip Estate is a specialist Chardonnay, Pinot Gris and Pinot Noir producer located on the Mornington Peninsula, one of Australia’s foremost cool-climate maritime wine regions. Meticulous sustainable viticulture and
sensitive minimalist winemaking produce site-expressive wines of elegance, complexity and structure. Port Phillip Estate wines are domain grown, vinified and bottled.

“We endeavour to grow the highest quality fruit that expresses the terroir of each vineyard. Our sustainable farming practices are driven by the belief that the health of our vineyard soils, and thus vines, underpin wine quality. 

All grapes are hand pruned, shoot thinned and hand picked.” Winemaker Glen Hayley

“Since becoming chief winemaker at Port Phillip Estate a few years ago, Glen Hayley has taken the estate’s already good wines to new levels of quality and detail.” Max Allen

The Port Phillip Estate ‘Red Hill’ vineyard is located on the Mornington Peninsula at Red Hill, on Eocene volcanic soils. Our wines are made from domain grown, handpicked grapes and aim to manifest terroir: the integration of our geology and soils with the macroclimate of our region, the mesoclimates of the various sites within our vineyard and the weather of the annual grape growing season. Our cultural operations in the vineyard and practices in the winery endeavour to articulate these unique characteristics diligently, respectfully and without artifice.

From the winemaker bout the 2020 vintage: “A cold wet winter in 2019, with approximately 195 mm of rain falling over June, July, and August, set up the vineyards well. A mild and early Spring followed. Conditions cooled somewhat in the lead up to flowering in early-mid November and continued throughout flowering, delaying fruit set. A milder than usual Summer slowed the phenology of the vines. Veraison in many of our parcels was in early February, approximately two to three weeks behind the five-year average. The region received several large rainfalls during late Summer, 200 mm in total, more than double that of the same period the previous year. These rainfalls were managed effectively, and the vineyard remained disease-free. Harvest commenced 11 March compared to 25 February the previous year. Weather during harvest was ideal, with cool overnight temperatures leading to very mild daytime temperatures. Our viticultural team worked steadily through the calm yet constant harvest. Yields were significantly lower than average due to the extended cool flowering period. Despite low yields, the quality of the fruit was excellent. The resulting wines are energetic, pure, and are characterised by beautiful natural acidity.”

“This wine comprises fruit from five Pinot Noir blocks grown at our Red Hill vineyard. The oldest block was planted in 1987, with more planting in 1997, 2001, and 2007. These five blocks span 10.25 acres (5.28 ha) of the 23 acre (10 ha) vineyard and are grown in various directions in deep, sloping, red basalt soil, overlooking Western Port Bay. This results in each parcel having its own identity and growth characteristics.

“The fruit was fermented in a combination of large-format wooden foudre and stainless-steel tanks. Fermentation commenced spontaneously with ambient yeasts and lasted for 16–19 days. The wine underwent indigenous malolactic fermentation. The maturation period was 11 months in French oak barriques (of which 20% were new) and puncheons. The wine was bottled without fining or filtration.

“Bright notes of alpine herb and strawberry leading to cranberry and Morello cherry, with hints of cooling graphite and spice elements also. Driven and long, there is a stretch of fine tannin that runs through the palate and accentuates the cherry and floral characters. Elegant and pretty now, this wine will improve with cellaring over the medium term.”

Reviews for 2019…

93 points, Jane Faulkner for Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion 2022 “A pretty pinot with drinkability writ large. Offers the right combination of florals, spice, fruit and savouriness. Its satiny texture and almost delicate tannins all adding to the immediate appeal, yet there’s enough substance for this to last some distance.”

92+points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front “In some ways this is light and frisky, in others it’s stringy and structural. It’s not ‘fruit forward’, let’s say. It’s strawberried, gently reductive, laced with dried herb/spice notes and strung with savoury tannin. It’s a dinner/lunch/entree style. It has duck salad written all over it, and in that context it would excel. There’s even a whisper of blood orange to the aroma. It’s a good wine.”

RRP $49    Our Special Price $35.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine.