We've got a Friday & Saturday tasting double to savour and see out January this weekend!
The following and fervour for high-quality Pinot Noir is something that continues to climb and climb, and such is the range of this thin-skinned grape's complexity and charm that it can be enjoyed as equally now in the summer heat as it can in the cooler winter months. Our obsession with it will certainly never cease, and we have a handful of amazing Australian and New Zealand picks for you to all love come Saturday (1st February) at our usual 12 to 2pm slot. Pop in and enjoy the vast scope of styles we've chosen, including Yarra Valley, Gippsland, Adelaide Hills, Tasmania's Tamar Valley, Mornington Peninsula, and three separate choices from around Central Otago. There will likely be a last-minute surprise inclusion (being a brand new release this week) that will wriggle into the lineup come Saturday, so make sure you don't miss it.
Additionally, Friday afternoon (31st January) will see winemaker Charlie O'Brien from Silent Noise in McLaren Vale in town, and from between 4:30 to 7pm, he'll be standing by our tasting table showing off his latest delicious efforts! Each release is juicy and summer-inspired, with a juicy chilled red and grenache, crispy riesling, mineral-led chardonnay, and a fun pet-nat to boot
Toolangi Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2024 - $30 on special this week; $34 RRP
"Kaspar Hermann is coming up on seven years at the helm of Toolangi Vineyard. Under his site-first approach–allowing the place and vintage to dictate the result rather than forcing a particular style—the true character and quality of Toolangi’s vineyard are revealing themselves, with impressive results. After a string of cool years in the Yarra, 2024 delivered a mild, uneventful spring and sunny and warm conditions at harvest. According to Hermann, it’s a season marked by big flavour and attractive regional charm–the proof is in the pudding; this is as good as we’ve seen this wine. Drawn from 22-year-old vines, the fruit was partially destemmed and fermented as whole berries, with a small portion of bunches included (10%). After 14 days, the wine was pressed to oak (10% new) for nine months’ maturation. As has come to be expected from this single-vineyard bottling, it’s vibrant and pure-fruited with textural finesse and plenty of bang for your buck." - Bibendum Wine Co.
Holm Oak Tamar Valley Pinot Noir 2023 - $32 on special this week; $35 RRP
"A mix of several pinot noir clones off a number of blocks on the Holm Oak estate, destemmed, wild ferment, matured for 10 months in French oak, 25% new. Raspberry, redcurrant and wild strawberry notes with hints of mushroom tea, leaf litter, fine spice, clover blossom, dried citrus and earth. Finely balanced and filigreed, it's a delicate style with a lacy acid cadence and diaphanous red fruits fading slowly on the exit." - 94 Points, Dave Brookes, Halliday Wine Companion
McArthur Ridge Southern Tor Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022 - $49 on special this week; $55 RRP
"We may not have found any Burgundian Pinot Noir wines to feature in this year’s Best In Show selection, but three Pinots from the Southern Hemisphere goes some way to compensate. This example from the Alexandra Basin sub-region shows why there is so much excitement about Central Otago. It’s a translucent dark red in colour, with articulate aromas of warm red berries, red cherries and root spice. It’s softly articulated on the palate and sweet-fruited, with great grace and poise. The wine’s structure comes more prominently from its acidity than from its relatively discreet tannin profile. In just two years, it has already begun to soften and open; look out for stones and a herbal complexity as well as root spice on the finish." - 97 Points, Decanter (Gold Winner & Best Pinot Noir of Show at Decanter World Wine Awards 2024!)
William Downie Gippsland Pinot Noir 2023 - $55 on special this week; $62 RRP
"A danker, more resinous expression of medium-bodied pinot noir, befitting the volcanic soils of Gippsland. Darker than its Mornington sibling, exuding hints of blood plums, sarsaparilla and sandalwood along a frame of well-hewn woodsy tannins. A beautiful wine, crafted with a deft touch, as is the wont of Bill Downie. From biodynamically grown grapes." - 94 Points, Ned Goodwin MW, JamesSuckling.com
"The intriguing 2023 Pinot Noir Gippsland, off volcanic soils, is classic Gippsland. It offers up layers of dark earth and spices (fennel seed and roasted star anise), well supported by a core of dark cherry and older oak. Despite the lower 12.5% alcohol, there is good upfront volume of flavor, softening through to spicy tobacco tones. It finishes with silky tannins and impressive length. Drink 2024 - 2030." - 92 Points, Angus Hughson, Vinous
Gentle Folk 'Monomeith' Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2023 - $57 on special this week; $64 RRP
"It’s cool, it’s succulent, it’s got some slurp to it too. Purple fruits, mulberry, dark cherry, sour and tart pops of pomegranate jewels and a wash of alpine herbs and light white pepper over it all. It goes the distance, it feels svelte and coils serpent-like through the palate. A savoury undertow of brambles and earth also there. It does many, many things, and just feels right and righteous overall. Oh boy." - 95 Points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front
Elanto Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir 2023 - $80 on special this week; $89 RRP
"Never in a million years would I have picked the vine age given the savouriness, detail and complexity in this wine. Fruit off four-year-old vines. Quite astonishing and yet, the proof is in the glass. Full of heady aromatics – all florals and wood spice with flavours of dark cherry, cherry compote and poached rhubarb. But it’s not at all fruity, as it also comes with a hint of charred radicchio and Italian bitter herbs. There’s a vivacity across the just medium-bodied palate, a little sinewy, yet savoury through and through; best of all, the shapely, fine tannins take charge as it finishes long and convincingly." - 95 Points, Jane Faulkner, Halliday's Wine Companion
"There’s a lot going on with this Pinot Noir but it manages to feel effortless. Seamless is the word; finished is another. Campari-like herbs, roasted nuts, earth, undergrowth and sweet black cherries, the latter deep-set in Pinot Noir terms. There’s an excellent framework of tannin, firm and velvety at once, dry strings splayed out across a mesh made of hazelnuts. This wine became more expansive as it rested in the glass. This is the first Pinot Noir grown and made from this vineyard. It’s an exciting debut, with an even more exciting future. Drink 2024-2030+" - 95 Points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
Felton Road 'MacMuir' Central Otago Pinot Noir 2023 - $110 on special this week; $125 RRP
"A shy nose of ground spice, rosemary and violet unfurls from the dense core of savoury black fruit. Complex but also compact. The palate is a juxtaposition of very sweet, plush fruit with a generous personality against a backdrop of grainy wood spice, cocoa and cinnamon which coats the mouth. Relatively forward in style with gobs of intense fruit coating some serious tannins which also sit quite far forward. A crowd-pleasing style with plenty of substance and impressively concentrated though currently lacking the finesse which will hopefully come as it settles." - 95 Points, Stephen Wong MW, The Real Review
Valli 25th Anniversary Central Otago Pinot Noir 2022 - $115 on special this week; $129 RRP
"Our 25th vintage in Gibbston delivered idyllic conditions that gave us the opportunity to make two exceptional wines including this commemorative cuvee from our Estate which beautifully articulates in the glass everything we love about Gibbston Pinot Noir. This slightly warmer season shows density and concentration with amazing finesse; perfume; fragrance; fine tannin; bright fruit and delectable earthiness. Although words can not do justice to our love of making wine in Gibbston, this wine delivers everything our hearts, minds and senses could ask of our vineyard in a season we shall treasure not only for the milestone but equally for giving us this extraordinary wine that truly reflects the foresight, the love, the hard work, the commitment, the laughter, the community (and perhaps a bit of luck) that gives us a reason to celebrate 25 years." - Jen Parr, Valli Winemaker
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Silent Noise - New Release McLaren Vale Wines!
Tasting this Friday 31st January (4:30 to 7pm)
Hosted by winemaker Charlie O'Brien
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The lineup includes their:
'House Party' Pet-Nat
'HO' Riesling
'Uva di Troia' Chilled Red
'MF' Grenache
'CBF' Chardonnay
If you wish to buy any of these wines, please use the links above ? Alternatively, email us at sales@thewineemporium.com.au, or contact us on (07)32521117 if you have any questions.
// Prices valid until Wednesday the 5th of February