Description
// 2025 Melbourne Royal Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy Winner!
"Think flavour, finesse and even more flavour! This wine has everything you could want from a pinot. It's smooth, silky and elegant on the palate, with a mouth-watering hit of freshness that makes you thirsty for more. The vibrant strawberry and cherry aromas erupt from the glass, as the complex layers of flavour continue to reveal themselves long after the first sip. All of this is beautifully balanced with an earthy minerality that speaks volumes about the cold and slightly wild conditions that sweep through our hidden valley. In the winery, Pete [Peter Dredge of Dr. Edge] allows each individual parcel of fruit to ferment on skins for two weeks, before the delicious red juice is pressed off and placed into seasoned French oak barrels (just 10% new oak). These barrels are put to bed for 9 months, before they are carefully blended to create the final masterpiece that now awaits you in bottle." - Winemaker Notes
"The fruit for Meadowbank’s lithe, detailed Pinot is drawn from a north-facing parcel of vines planted by Gerald Ellis in 1987 (which winemaker Peter Dredge thinks is probably a combination of clones MV6 and D5V12). The slopes descend over Meadowbank's typical loose sand and sandstone over dark brown coffee rock (sand cemented by iron oxides and organic matter), and these vines benefit from lovely exposure and airflow.
"Vintage 2024 here was very dry; although temperatures were generally fairly moderate, there was barely any rain. Happily, there was a return to more “normal” yields relative to a run of leaner years, and the quality was exemplary again. The fruit for the 2024 Pinot was harvested by hand over two weeks. The wine fermented on skins for two weeks before being pressed to finish fermentation in a mix of old and new French oak barriques. It then matured in oak for nine months (just 10% new) before bottling without fining. Look out for the intensely fragrant, spiced red fruit aromas so typical of the Meadowbank site, alongside subtle undergrowth earthiness and sappy, cherry-spiked freshness. It isn’t a powerhouse, however (unlike many of our most revered examples); this is not what the Meadowbank site delivers, but a wine of perfume, sinuous charisma and dangerous drinkability!" - Bibendum
