Doctors Flat - Pinot Noir 2011

Lighter ruby-red colour with purple hues. The bouquet is one of elegance and florality with fragrant red cherry aromas. More slender in presentation, the aromatics are soft and have an ethereal lift, the fruit purity coming to the fore. Subtle cooler-spectrum herb notes are present. Medium-full bodied and showing finesse and a smaller scale, bright, sweet, juicy fruit flavours of red berry fruit and lifted floral elements open out and gently fill the mouth. The whole cluster element is very restrained. Also, the tannin extraction is balanced providing supple and fine textures and line, with lovely accessibility. This is beginning to come together, while retaining beautiful aromatic freshness. Drinking earlier, say over the next 4+ years. 18.5-/20 Jan 2014 Dark, deep, ruby-red colour with purple-black hues, a little lighter on rim. This has a tightly concentrated but elegantly proportioned bouquet with penetrating aromas of ripe black berry and black cherry aromas, along with some resinous oak elements, dark herbs and minerals. Violetty florals and spices emerge in the glass. Medium-full bodied, concentrated, vibrantly bright flavours of black berries and cherries are enlivened by fresh acidity with fine-grained tannin in support. The fruit is accompanied by some resiny oak which melds with spicy herb and mineral nuances, and these flavours should integrate as the wine mellows. The mouthfeel is one of vitality and energy, and the bright fruit drives the palate to a very fine-textured, fresh-fruited and lively, sustained finish. This is a tightly concentrated, bright and lively, black-fruited Pinot Noir with the fine structure to see it develop with plenty of interest over the next 5-6+ years. Serve with Middle Eastern and Asian cuisine. Clones 115, 777 and 114 from the ‘Doctors Flat’ vineyard, Bannockburn, indigenous yeast fermented with approx. 15% whole bunch to 14.1% alc., the wine spending 30 days on skins and aged 12 months in French oak. 460 cases made. 18.5-/20 Apr 2013 

-Raymond Chan