Description

Big and ripe, darker fruits and stony/minerals, spicy, impressive weight and depth of flavour. There is a lot to love here now and it will probably pick up some charming savoury notes with a few more years in bottle. Match it with roast lamb. 

6 hectares of vines near St Helen on the North East Coast. Their North facing Devonian granite rich soils give great grapes to Apsley Gorge winemaker Brian Franklin to finish their fantastic work. These are great wines that are well priced for the class.

Tasmania – The beautiful Island south of the Australian mainland that has carved out a reputation for quality sparkling wine and Pinot Noir. Tasmania’s cooler climate regions and longer growing season make it perfect for aromatic styles of wine. A wealth of quality focussed producers have held lift the status of the whole island.

Pinot Noir – This is the most elusive grape. It is relatively early ripening and extremely sensitive to terroir. Its perfect place on earth is the Cote d’Or in Burgundy. So haunting are great red Burgundy’s charms that growers everywhere try to emulate them. Pinot Noir is not just a one trick pony, it can make great reds, rosé, sparkling and even sweet wines, whites on occasion and I’ve tasted a decent fortified Pinot Noir too.