Pinot noir

Overview

Our Pinot noir vines were sourced from Western Victoria in 1971. This material was acquired before individual clonal selections were considered, and as such, our older Pinot blocks are a mix of many clones. A visiting French ampelographer (vine expert) once told John Middleton (Founder) that there were in the order of 30+ clones in our original Pinot block. Subsequent plantings of Pinot on this site have been selections from the original block, and the clonal selection has been somewhat refined. There are also some newer blocks of Pinot noir planted (as of 2008) to American rootstocks and are of specific clonal material, namely MV6 and 777. In the winery the emphasis is on simplicity. By today’s standards, relatively short fermentations are employed, typically 8-10 days. This is followed by 16 months of barrel maturation consisting of 25% new oak barriques. Minimal, if any, fining and filtration is carried out prior to bottling.

Vertical tasting notes

2018 Pinot noir

Release Note

Mount Mary Pinot noir has always walked a fine line between bright, fresh primary fruit and darker, earthy secondary complexities. The fruit grown in our vineyard naturally lends itself so well to this style. We choose to work with these characteristics in the winery rather than push the wines in another direction. We have made this style of Pinot noir for 40 years now. Any changes in winemaking follow the pursuit of perfecting and improving within this style. This wine speaks volumes about what it is we are striving to achieve in the context of Pinot noir. The nose opens with hints of strawberry, blackcurrant, quince, spice and some toasty oak flavours. There are many layers to the palate which shows a certain density/viscosity which we have watched build in bottle over the past 12 months. The palate is packed with flavours of strawberry, cherry and rhubarb along with earthy, spicy complexities. Through all this is an interwoven soft tannic structure giving the wine grip, length and longevity.

Released in the

Tasting notes for past vintages are only available to the Members’ Table. Please to view.