Pinot noir: the wine they drink in heaven

Pinot noir is the wine they drink in heaven. It’s why I moved to Melbourne, to get close to the Yarra Valley.

TWAM 12 Dec 2015

It’s an old line, I know, but pinot noir is the wine they drink in heaven.

At a more prosaic level, it’s why I moved from Sydney to Melbourne in 1983 (ostensibly for my law firm) — to get nearer to the Yarra Valley — and why I, with four other families, own a small house in Burgundy. The move to Melbourne led to my wife and I founding Coldstream Hills in 1985. It’s a long story, but it is now part of Treasury Wine Estates; happily, we own the hillside house overlooking the vineyard, and I am frequently to be found in the winery complex tasting wines sent to me.

I have to admit I was inordinately pleased when several years ago the Royal Melbourne Wine Awards decided to institute a pinot noir trophy in my name, and even more pleased that, at the Awards dinner on October 15, I handed the trophy to Tasmania’s Home Hill Vineyard for its 2014 Kelly’s Reserve Pinot Noir. I was happier still that this wine also won that most prestigious award of all, the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy. After many near misses, in 2013 the pinot drought broke when Yabby Lake 2012 Block 1 Pinot Noir won the Jimmy Watson Trophy for the first time.

But now it is time for a confession: I am often asked where I would go if I were to start again. The answer is Margaret River if I didn’t want to make pinot noir; Tasmania if I did. Since it is a ludicrously hypothetical question (I am, after all, 77, and wise to the financial quicksands of small, family-owned, quality-focused wineries), I don’t feel like Judas Iscariot — only death will prise me out of my treasured spot in the Yarra Valley.

Home Hill was not only the top-pointed wine in the 2014 pinot class, where four of the eight gold medals went to Tasmania, but also topped the ’13 class, resulting in a trophy taste-off against itself.

2013 Home Hill Estate Pinot Noir

Part wild yeast fermentation, part cultured; on skins 21 days, 5% whole bunches; 10 months in French oak (20% new). Stood out as a young wine for the power and impact of its black cherries, savoury spices, persistent tannins and long palate. Top gold, Class 40 Melbourne Wine Awards ’15. 13.9% alc; screwcap. 96 points; drink to 2025; $36

2014 Home Hill Estate Pinot Noir

No whole bunches, 50% whole berries; otherwise similar to the above regimen. Faultless colour; the bouquet and palate fill the senses with perfumed red cherry and blueberry fruits, delicately yet firmly encased in a film of fine tannins that provide balance and length. 13.5% alc; screwcap. 95 points; drink to 2025; $38

2014 Home Hill Kelly’s Reserve Pinot Noir

80% wild yeast fermentation, 75-100% whole berries; on skins 15-22 days; 10 months in French oak (40% new). Takes Home Hill’s Estate pinot to another level, combining power with finesse thanks to its perfect balance and mouthfeel. Red and black cherry fruits are in lock-step with superb tannins; a waft of cedary French oak adds another dimension. Jimmy Watson Trophy ’15. 13.8% alc; screwcap. 97 points; drink to 2029; $75