Kooyong ‘Meres’ Pinot Noir 2021 (6 Bottles) Red Hill

AUSTRALIA WIDE SHIPPING INCLUDED

This single-block wine is sourced from 0.6 ha of 21-year-old vines on a gentle north-facing slope. These vines are the most exposed of all our Pinot Noir plantings, leading to low vigour and low yields. The combination of the soils (less loamy topsoil and more clay subsoil than the other blocks), exposure and low vigour produce highly aromatic and perfumed red-fruited Pinot Noir with a structure that, as the vines age, is becoming more robust and serious. This wine was fermented in large-format concrete tank. The ferment, with a portion of whole bunches, occurred spontaneously with ambient yeasts and lasted 17 days. Following fermentation, the wine was pressed and racked into French oak barriques (of which 28% were new) and underwent indigenous malolactic fermentation. The wine was racked only once, with a total maturation period of 14 months. It was then bottled without fining or filtration.

Shy at first, the 2018 Meres evolves to open a deeply perfumed and aromatic nose; pretty red fruits (strawberry and cherry) together with rhubarb and floral notes. Subtle savoury spice aromas emerge. The palate is delicate yet deep with an attractive supple mid-palate, built on vibrant red fruits and earthy tannin. Long, fine-tuned and energetic, the wine finishes with dried orange peel and cranberry acidity. Always the most attractive, aromatic and supple of the trio, this vintage is no different. It offers gratification now but will reward mid-term cellaring.

93 points – Campbell Mattinson, WineFront, March 2020
Single vineyard pinot noir. Mornington Peninsula. Well known, well loved. Lovely length, aided by fine fingers of tannin. I could give this 92 or 96 or anywhere in-between and sleep easy with any of them. The sweet-sour flavours of this year’s release mean that Meres doesn’t have its usual meaty oomph but I don’t mind it this way, in fact I probably prefer it.

Young Gun of Wine Top 50
Classic and quite fine profile here, with red and dark fruits and a brush of graphite and spice, too. There’s a crackle of woodsmoke, with gentle whole bunch accenting subtle oak notes. This has quite a sour/wild red fruit autumnal thing going on, with a tension between ripeness and nervy cool-toned fruit working in fine balance. This is a refined and elegant expression, with ample underlying flavour, and it will benefit with more time in bottle.

Panel includes a host of Australia’s most respected wine critics, food journalists & sommeliers