The Very Best Of Aussie Pinot Noir

Arguably the best tasting ever held of Australian Pinot Noir outside Australia took place yesterday with a select few from the Hong Kong wine industry present to blind taste what are the best Pinot Noir coming from Australia at the moment.

The private event took place in Hong Kong’s Langham Hotel and was hosted by Paul Henry and Lucy Anderson of Wine Hero, a company that specializes in wine marketing and brand development. Wine Hero deals with most of Australia’s top wine brands and is looking to highlight the regionality of Australian wine and highlight the best wines and varietals from the best regions of the country.

Present at the event were professionals such as Rebecca Leung (writer and one of Hong Kong’s top wine professionals), Lau Chi Sun (Editor in Chief of Wine Now magazine), Zachary Yu (The Wine Guy at the Langham), Christian Pillsbury (Director of Applied Wine) and Roberto Cioaca (Director of Heritage Wines).

All attendees tasted sixteen of the top Pinot Noir from Australia blind, not to rate the wines per se, but to assess their quality and to compare and contrast the top wines from some older vintages and in some cases vintages that were supposedly not great – that is, the conditions for wine making were horrific, yet the skill of certain winemakers can be seen more so in ‘off vintages’.

Australia is not exactly known for its Pinot Noir as many assume that the country is too hot to grow Pinot Noir successfully yet regions such as the Mornington Peninsular, Yarra Valley and Adelaide Hills are cool climate and great areas to showcase Australian Pinot Noir making.

Out of the sixteen wines, only three are not available in Hong Kong as their production levels are so low that export is virtually impossible – one of the three wines I loved! One of the problems Australian Pinot Noir makers face is competition from their Kiwi neigbours across the sea as Australia is still stigmatized by the production of big bold Shiraz from areas like the Barossa and, to some extent, the ‘product of South Australia’ tag that leaves some thinking this is rather non-descript.

However, these Pinot’s all had a very evident sense of place and it was truly an honour to have tried these wines – all bar two I had never tried before and there were many that I had never heard of before. Australian Pinot Noir should be given more kudos as the wines, certainly the ones tasted, are fantastic and are almost incomparable to any other Pinot I’ve tasted. Granted, some did have nuances close to both Burgundy and Central Otago, but the majority were unique unto themselves. 

Paul Henry noted that "Pinot Noir has really found its feet in Australia over the last twenty years or so" and that there are "three things that define Australian Pinot Noir; firstly the acknowledgment of clonal selection, particularly of Dijon clones; secondly, that Pinot needs and really enjoys cool climates such as the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsular; and thirdly, that Australia's isolation had initially kept them back but lately it has helped prevent pest and disease meaning farming can be done much cleaner, without the use of chemicals".

Take a look at the list of wines tasted (below) and see for yourself and, if you ever see these wines on a restaurant wine list or on a shop shelf, I’d highly advise that you pick up a bottle or two to see the skill and craftsmanship that has gone into making the wines. It was a great event and a big thanks needs to go out to Wine Hero for doing more to highlight the regionality of Australian wines.

Wines Tasted:

De Bertoli Reserve Release Pinot Noir 2011 (Yarra Valley)

Oakridge “864” Pinot Noir 2010 (Yarra Valley)

Mount Mary Pinot Noir 2008 (Yarra Valley) (*)

Curly Flat Pinot Noir 2010 (Macedon Ranges)

Ashton Hills Reserve Pinot Noir 2010 (Adelaide Hills)

Bindi “Composition” Pinot Noir 2011 (Macedon Ranges)

Bass Philip Reserve Pinot Noir 2010 (Gippsland) (*)

Yabby Lake “Block 2” Pinot Noir 2010 (Mornington Peninsular) (*)

Kooyong “Ferrous” Pinot Noir 2010 (Mornington Peninsular)

Main Ridge “Half Acre” Pinot Noir 2008 (*)

William Downie 2011 (Mornington Peninsular) (*)

Thousand Candles 2012 (Yarra Valley)

Timo Mayer “Close Planted” Pinot Noir 2012 (Yarra Valley)

Farrside by Farr Pinot Noir 200 (Geelong)

Bannockburn “Serré” Pinot Noir 2010 (Geelong)

Domaine A Pinot Noir 2007 (Tasmania)

Wines marked with (*) were my top five with the Mount Mary, William Downie and Bass Philip being the top three in my opinion for sure. I think overall the Bass Philip may have been everyone’s favourite as this is what it seemed like during the post tasting discussion – anyway, there wasn’t much left after the bottles were revealed and some tasters were able to ‘re-taste’ their favourites.

Wine Hero can be contacted through their website at www.winehero.com