Toolangi Paul’s Lane Pinot Noir 2019

Description

Helmut Konecsny, the owner of Rochford Wines, has purchased Toolangi Vineyards and has immediately started ringing in the changes. Of course, it’s early days, but from what we have seen so far, the future for Toolangi now looks very, very bright. Apart from the new packaging, Konecsny and his team seem very serious about rejuvenating and upgrading the work in the vines. This was, after all, one of the few Yarra producers to engage the services of renowned soil scientist Claude Bourguignon on his recent visit to Australia, and the Toolangi vineyard was one of the sites he analysed. In terms of winemaking, Toolangi will now control its own destiny with the talented duo of Kaspar Hermann (stints at Seville Estate, Viticoltori De Concillis in Campania, Coldstream Hills, Punch and 8 years as assistant winemaker at Mount Mary before joining Toolangi) and Kelly Healey (started his wine career in Otago in his homeland of New Zealand then Chandon in the Yarra Valley and Moet & Chandon in India, followed by a spell at Kilchurn in Macedon). Crucial to the Toolangi team is experienced viticulturist, John Evans (previously Chief Viticulturist at Yering Station for 14 years, Vineyard Manager at Yarra Ridge and worked at De Bortoli, as well as various Vineyard Consulting roles including the setup and redevelopment of Toolangi Vineyard in 2001, which he has continued to this day.)  Safe to say, John knows the Yarra like the back of his hand and exactly how to get the best from the Toolangi vineyard.
There are now only two tiers of wine—the Toolangi and Paul’s Lane labels. The first set of wines under the new team hail from 2018. Under the new regime, there is no inoculation for any of the wines, the Pinots take in a large portion of whole bunch ferments, and the reds are neither fined nor filtered. The winemakers also take a balanced approach to new oak, so even the top label is capped at 20% new barrels. It’s very early days, yet the first set of wines makes a statement—an excellent statement. Going forward it will be fascinating to see the consequences of Konecsny’s and the new team’s intention to apply the time honoured vigneron model on the Toolangi wines. The future is bright.

Hand-harvested from Toolangi’s 2001 plantings of MV6 on their E Block. This is a parcel that delivers lower than average yields for the site, so more drive and intensity. Fruit was mostly de-stemmed (20% whole bunches retained vs 80% whole berries) and naturally fermented in open-top wooden fermenters. In total, the wine spent 23 days on skins before being pressed to French oak (20% new) for 10 months. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. This is delicious; a lightly coloured, perfumed, juicy and complex Pinot for a very fair price. Expect grenadine, raspberry and anise fruit, some subtle mealy, nutty oak and a bright, fresh finish.

“18yo MV6 vines, hand-picked, 80% wholes berries, 20% whole bunches wild-fermented in French oak (20% new), matured for 10 months. The vinification provides a forest floor/funk complexity to both the texture and wild berry flavour.” 95 points, James Halliday, Winecompanion.com.au

RRP $47  **SPECIAL 6 PACK BUY … Only $36.99 when you buy 6 or more of this wine**