Sailor Seeks Horse Pinot Noir 2018
$74.99
LAST BOTTLES! 95 points, Halliday “An elegant wine that highlights its cool climate credentials.. ” Fine Tassie pinot from a cult grower.
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Description
This cult winery in Huon Valley, Tassie’s coolest region has certainly hit the ground running!
This tiny vineyard is one of Australia’s most southerly located in the Huon valley in southern Tasmania. Paul and Gilli Lipscombe own the vineyard and make the wines and both have considerable vineyard and winemaking experience behind them including winning the Jimmy Watson trophy for Home Hill where they have been the winemakers in recent years. From working together in the Languedoc to New Zealand, Oregon and Margaret River they spent a lot of time researching and considering the best possible vineyard site with the aim to produce Australia’s best Pinot Noir and Chardonnay finally settling on this ideal north facing vineyard which is sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly winds. Best described as a warm site within a cool climate, the soil is free-draining quartz inflicted mudstone soil over clay. The vineyard is planted to a large variety of Dijon clones as well as numerous other clones planted by the previous owners and all vineyard work is done as organically as possible. In 2019 a new planting including some Trousseau has been made on the steep north-west facing slope beside the main vineyard block.
So to the name, where does that come from? Paul & Gilli Lipscombe explain … “There was a handwritten sign on the wall at the Red Velvet Lounge in Cygnet, our local coffee and cake respite from the Tasmanian weather. It said, “Sailor Seeks Horse” and went on to explain that the author had sailed solo around the world and ridden across the US from coast to coast and back again…on a mule. He’d then decided he wanted to travel around Tasmania by horse but didn’t have one. So, was there anyone who would lend him one? If they didn’t have a horse then a pony would do. It was an idea that resonated with us. Here we were, trying to do something a little bit crazy, without much money and requiring a little bit of help to get to where we wanted to be.”
“The Pinot Noirs we love display a delicate balance between red and dark fruits, high-toned aromatics, layered depth and verve. It’s something we hope to achieve in our Pinots and is a combination of site and sensitive winemaking.
Picking dates are intrinsic to obtaining the energy we look for in our wines – pick too early and you lack the delicious component, pick too late and you lose the moreish part. It’s a cliché but it’s all about balance.
Our winemaking philosophy is pretty simple. Listen to the fruit and let it guide you. We soak the fruit at ambient temperature (cold in the Huon) and then let natural yeast start the fermentation process. Once the ferments are complete we taste the wine on skins until the tannin profile is right and then press to barrel. From there we inoculate for malolactic fermentation, then leave the wine unsulphured until late-spring and add sulphur dioxide. The wine is left untouched until bottling, which varies depending on how the wine looks. Stems are used as a supportive component when they are ripe and the amount varies.” Gilli and Paul Lipscombe
Newly released 2018 vintage – here’s Paul’s take …”while the rest of Australia complained that it was too hot in 2018, down here in the Huon we were basking in a warmer-than-normal but much less stressful growing season. In fact, the only problem was the proliferation of European wasps which meant a lot of early evenings hacking through the bush trying to find their nests. There was a slight anomaly in that budburst was a month later than usual (quite worrying in Australia’s coolest wine region) yet we began picking earlier than ever (29th March). Once picking started the fruit came in thick and fast and was another one of those logistically-challenging harvests.
There was a remarkable evenness to the fruit that came in, with generous fruit weight and lovely tannin ripeness. It was the first year we’ve had where all the seeds were brown and crunchy. Stems were also nicely lignified and we were able to use up to 30% whole bunch in some batches and overall used about 15%. Ferments kicked off wild early and happily ticked over until we pressed off straight to barrel. Elevage was slightly longer than normal at about 14 months. There’s a bit more density in the 2018 Pinot Noir – denser fruit and denser structure. It’s built for the long-haul but delicious drinking now.”
95 points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday’s Wine Companion “An elegant wine that highlights its cool climate credentials with cherry perfume spiked with pepper and juniper, all leading out onto a lean but not mean palate. Tannins supple, fine and savoury and the all important lively acidity. Feels effortless. Immediately delicious.”
94 points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front “Red cherry, English garden and exotic spices, just a touch of dusty cedar oak. It’s fresh, clean and bright, red fruits, a fine dusty tannin texture, clean lines, lively and distinct in personality, with white pepper and a mouthful of strawberries direct from the fridge on a nice long finish. Like this. Intriguing.”
LAST BOTTLES OF THIS OUTSTANDING VINTAGE! $74.99
Additional information
Producer | Sailor Seeks Horse |
---|---|
Region or Country | Australia, Tasmania |
Variety | Pinot Noir |
Vintage | 2018 |
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