The Sexiest Grape

No matter what anyone says, the raciest, sexiest, most desirable grape of the moment is unquestionably pinot noir. Life without pinot noir would be less fun, without risk and unpalatably bland – although that’s exactly what a bad pinot can taste like. Pinot is chancy, fraught with danger and unreliable. Most of the best things in life are. But when you strike a good pinot noir, it’s as good as a ‘great’ anything else.

Winemakers can’t agree over this one, so don’t be surprised if you don’t either. Although many people who should know better – like winemakers in warm areas – would relegate every grape of pinot picked to the sparkling wine bin, pinot noir should be persevered with, nutured and understood. One day we will all be grateful. Give me a bottle of Bannockburn, Mountadam, Yarra Yering or Diamond Valley and I will be already.

To dispense with pinot would be about as gutless as saying that an Australian should never compete in an international skiing event, a world chess championship or a world heavyweight title fight. Thank heavens for people like Kirsty Marshall, who do far better than we think they’re supposed to do.

While we have yet to knock on the door of the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, the archetype and consumate role model of any dry red wine made from this most infuriating grape, we improve dramatically from year to year. Young vineyards from the cooler Australian regions of the Yarra valley, Geelong, the Adelaide Hills, the Eden Valley, Tasmania, Romsey and the Mornington Peninsula are beginning to mature into pinot plots of potent potential.

Now that Australians have taken pinot noir seriously for nearly a decade, trends are beginning to emerge. Today you can buy roughly two types of pinot – cool-climate wines purporting complexity and elegance, or fruity, sweet jammy light reds that cost a lot less. Admirers – self included – rate the former as the most exciting of all wines, while detractors like myself rate the latter as nothing more than rather nasty alcoholic cordial.

But what should good pinot noir actually taste like? The so-called experts disagree, so what hope has the punter? Some outstanding pinot noirs made by Diamond Valley, Mount Mary, Bannockburn, Hickinbotham, Mountadam, Moss Wood, Dromana Estate and Coldstream Hills all have some aspect or other of what we recognise as ‘pinot noir character’. But what on earth is that?

Most winemakers agree that the role model for good pinot noir dry red is Burgundy, but that’s about as broad as saying you want to record a track that sounds like the Beatles or that your favourite car is a Toyota with four wheels. French burgundies are about as variable and as inconsistent as any wine can be. Many are ordinary, thin and diseased. A small proportion are unquestionably, but inconsistently brilliant.

Ian Hickinbotham of Hickinbotham Winemakers suggests that the judges at wine shows, who have the power to influence the direction taken by winemakers around Australia, might have their sights set a little wrong. “They give gold medals to wines which they compare to burgundies when they aren’t like them at all. Their ideas of great burgundies seem to be those made in warm years.”

Bannockburn’s straight-talking winemaker Gary Farr recognises that you will get at least five hundred different sorts of pinot as you move northwards in Burgundy from Santenay at the southern tip to the Cotes de Nuits, the segment of Burgundy north of Beaune. He predicts the same sort of variation will happen in Australia.

Farr is critical, however, of those who say that lighter, thin pinot noirs are the best expression of the grape variety, suggesting that the same people might not have experienced the richer wines of the Cotes de Nuits. “They probably only drink Cotes de Beaune and Mercurey, “which generally grow lighter styles of pinot noir”.

Lindemans’ Chief Winemaker, Phillip John, believes that top pinots have a complexity of different flavours and associates their quality with the presence of savoury cinnamon, nutmeg aromas and complexity.

David Lance of Diamond Valley in Victoria’s Yarra Valley says there is some single element of ‘Frenchness’ missing in our pinots, but can’t put a finger on it. “It’s like an intense sweetness on the nose and palate, and we’d dearly like to get it in our wine.” He seeks to achieve intense, voluminous flavours of cherries, stewed plums and strawberries in the Diamond Valley Pinot Noir, which he argues should be relatively light in body, but not in structure. Lance emphasises that pinot noir should not be so delicate that it quickly falls apart.

Hickinbotham looks for the flavour of plum above all others, along with the characteristics of strawberry and cherry preserves. “Pinot should be full and round, with a soft middle palate, finishing with velvet-like tannins.”

These flavours and qualities haven’t appeared in Australian pinot noir overnight. Until quite recently, it was treated in the vineyard and winery just like any other red grape. However the traditional Australian winemaking techniques that were fine for cabernet sauvignon and shiraz, were found to be lacking for pinot noir, and resulted in thin, insipid light dry reds without much varietal character. Colour problems were often straightened out with the addition of up to 20 shiraz or cabernet sauvignon, the legal maximum in a wine labelled as ‘pinot noir’.

What then, warts and all, are the best Australian pinot noirs? And in case I haven’t hinted enough, dear reader, this is really where I stick my neck right out. Farr’s Bannockburn is the one I would jump into, although I do prefer the ’87 to the ’88, which I would at the very least wade in. It’s a statuesque wine, unashamedly modelled after the Domaine de la Romanee-Conti, the most pricey and sought-after of all burgundies, which happens to be as different from most French pinot noirs as Bannockburn is from most Australian.

The Mountadam 1988 is another super-rich, super-full pinot to confound those who say the grape doesn’t have body. I like the flavour, which it also has plenty of.

Diamond Valley, Mount Mary, Yarra Yering and Yarra Ridge make Yarra Valley pinots with body and flavour, the Mount Mary with real Frenchness. The Yarra Yering has the highest price tag, but I have found a little too much volatility on those I have tried. Otherwise it’s exemplary. Coldstream Hills pinot noirs are elegant and attractive while young.

From Gippsland in eastern Victoria come the Nicholson River Estate, a big, gamey, earthy wine of classic dimensions, and the Bass Philip, an interesting newcomer with the potential to go all the way. From Geelong is the occasional Hickinbotham release to marvel at, and the Prince Albert, which can hit the highs in good seasons. The Romsey Vineyards Pinot Noir is also beginning to reveal Burgundian-like features.

Western Australia has its Wignalls, Moss Wood and the pricey Leeuwin Estate. Look out for more from Wignalls. Tasmania boasts Moorilla Estate, which although very berry-like and sweet, does have genuine class. It also has Piper’s Brook, the jammy Delamere and the occasionally wonderful Marion’s Vineyard. Keep the eyes open for St Matthias as well.

One hopes that pinot noir is here to stay. However, as happened with chardonnay, the enduringly fashionable burgundian white wine grape, it will still be some time before most of our winemakers come to grips with it. As Garry Farr says “It’s inevitable that there will be made a range of pinot noir across the board in Australia. Nobody can say we can’t fit in somewhere.” Please login to post comment