Deep Dive: Searching for the Best Pinot Noir in Yarra Valley
Taken from our review from Young Gun of Wine, click through to read the full article.
Cabernet lovers may scoff, but Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are undoubtedly the hero varieties of the Yarra Valley, with Pinot leading the plantings by some margin. Young Gun of Wine gathered every Yarra Valley Pinot Noir it could find and asked an expert panel — Dr Ray Nadeson (Lethbridge Estate), Chris Ryan DipWSET (Trader House), Sarah Fagan (Tarrawarra Estate), Abbey Moret DipWSET (Atlas Vinifera), Patrick Dowling (Domaine Wine Shippers), Yuki Hirose MS (LUCAS Restaurants), Travis Howe (Carlton Wine Room) and Adrian Santolin (Santolin / Rob Dolan Wines) — to taste blind and name their top six.
Our 2022 Black Spur Pinot Noir ($40 RRP) made the top-six lists of both Hirose and Santolin. Hirose described "framboise and bright red cherry... carbonic nose with menthol-like cool characters, red roses, Turkish delight... very pretty in style, crunchy acid keeping the wine in shape." Santolin wrote of "loads of bright fruit on the nose — fragrant red cherry, raspberry, blood plum... a very elegant and delicate spice-infused palate, with cherry and rhubarb pushing through followed by some super-fine tannins."
