Wine notes with Clive

The pursuit of pinot

Hartley

Pinot noir is a significant grape for the Macedon Ranges, along with chardonnay. Climatically, we are on the edge of being able to ripen the grape. However, that is not a bad thing as the grape responds well in a marginal climate. Grapes grown in a hot climate can lose their varietal identity and have ‘cooked’ fruit aromas if not carefully managed. If the bunches fail to ripen the resulting wine becomes weedy and herbaceous. You need a long summer and warmish autumn to get the right balance. It is a low yielding grape variety, losing its flavour if you crop too high. Vignerons walk a tight link between success and failure. You can see why I like to think of it as a ‘tightrope’ grape variety.

Pinot represented only 2.6 per cent of crushed grapes in Australia in 2022. The pursuit of pinot is often only the quest of smaller producers and not the big players in the industry. It’s a winemaker’s grape that brings out their artistry and skill. There are close to 50 clones available in Australia. MV6 is the most widely planted clone, and it produces more firmer, darker red fruit wines. Whilst other clones, such as D5V12, are light and aromatic with bright red fruits. Choosing the right clone for the vineyard site is critical and vineyards are often planted with a number of different ones.

In general, pinot should be light bodied, dry with soft tannins and aromas/ flavours of red fruits and oak. You do get variations of this, and I divide the wines into three categories. First there is the soft, fresh cherry and strawberry fruit dominated style that is very light and acidic. Opposite to this is a more meaty, even tannic style that has savoury game, mushroom and oak derived aroma and flavours. In between you get a nicely balanced ripe red fruit style with some subtle oak.

Here is a top 10 of some local producers that I’ve recently tasted and recommend: Attwoods, Joshua Cooper, Curly Flat, Hanging Rock, Musk Lane, Lyons Will, Passing Clouds, Silent Way, J.P Trijsburg and Zig Zag Rd.

Clive Hartley is an award-winning wine writer. Want to learn more? Buy his 300+ page full colour Australian Wine Guide (7th ed) from Paradise Books in Daylesford or via his website – www.australianwineguide.com.au

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