THE VERDICT
By and large, this tasting more than met the expectations of the judges. We were both surprised and impressed by the quality of wines that often achieved a degree of elegance, despite some warm vintage conditions. We all agreed that the highlight of the tasting was Victoria, which accounted for 31 of the 39 top-scoring wines. Within Victoria, 13 were from Yarra Valley and 11 from Mornington Peninsula.
Mornington Peninsula in particular is fulfilling its potential as a cool-climate maritime region producing Pinot Noir of world-class structure, with styles ranging from the clean, relatively light and fruit-driven to more complex reds of truffley, sometimes herbal undertones. With a helping hand from the Great Southern Ocean, Mornington Pinot Noir has now gone beyond wine of relatively simple red fruit to greater consistency and diversity of style with fine acid structures, moderate tannins, increasing sophistication in the use of high-quality oak and balanced alcohol.
Yarra Valley Pinot was also highly regarded, showing styles which (with Geelong) often featured the aromatic complexity of whole bunch in the winemaking. Beyond these major two Pinot regions, there were also pockets of excellence from Beechworth, with its wild berry fruits and savoury spice, Henty, Geelong and Orange as well as potential in Western Australia.
Tasmania, sadly, was a conundrum because, with only five wines of more than 90 entered – a real surprise – it was difficult for us to make an informed judgment on a state with so many unquestionably fine Pinot Noirs not featured here. If there was a disappointment, it was Adelaide Hills, often displaying almost overripe fruit.
The average alcohol content of all the wines was between 13% and 13.5% (assuming labelling accuracy), with just a handful coming in at 14% or above. Overall we felt that there was an understanding
