Pinot Palooza 2016

[pc79]

Pinotpalooza 2016
2014 Shaw & Smith - Mulchy undergrowth, raspberry, strawberry, horse stables, cinnamon clove. Loses a bit on the palate. 89
2015 Tolpuddle - light and bright, but got some meaty bones about it. Forest floor, mushroom, dark cherry, macerated, pot pourri. Excellent. 92
2015 Stoney Rise - strawberry red cherry fruit dominant savoury finish.
2015 Holyman - builds and rolls unfurls an array of flavours strawberry cherry spice barnyard funky. Could be glorious. 93
2014 project x - more body and balls, but has a distinct lightness of flavour. Very unmoving on the fruit front, savoury wins. Brightness, long finish, sticky tannin. 91.5
2015 Dalrymple Pinot pipers river - strawberries and cream, cherry cola, sweet fruit, tannin grippy. 90
2013 Dalrymple cottage block - dark cherry, strawberry, savoury, wet mulch, long finish, a little hot. Sweet up front, finished log and savoury 92
2013 Dalrymple coal river - forest floor, black cherry, cinnamon, slight hint of green twig, charcoal, serious wine. 91.5
2014 Dalrymple Swansea - cherry, aniseed, grippy sticks, 90
2013 Pegasus bay main divide - serious tannin, an array of spices, cherry fruited, savoury and driving acidity which overwhelms 89
2013 Pegasus bay - again strong, bright cherry, charry cedar oak, Mulchy, dark cherry, cinnamon spice, an overt grippy finish 91
2012 Pegasus Bay Prima Donna - barrel selected from premium vines. Sour cherry, burg like, vanillan, dusty cherry, leads a merry dance over the tongue, beaut balance between fruit, savoury, and tannin 93.5
2013 Pegasus Bay Prima Donna - lighter brighter and more crisp than the 12. Red cherry, forest floor, cloves and some beaut drying tannin 93
2014 Valli Gibbston - cured gamey meats, slight vegetal, cherry spice, dry and sweet fruited..90
2014 Valli Bannockburn - cherry spice, dark fruits, savoury spice, forest floor, mulch, savoury 91
2014 Valli Bendigo - dry barnyard, fleshy plums, black cherry, tar, game, vanilla, 91
2014 Valli Waitaki - sweeter fruited, strawberry, cloves, got a whiff of poop, forest, dark green and maroon, red rose. 91.5
2015 Chatto Huon Valley - roses, raspberry, dusting of cherry spice, some hints of mulch, so light and delicate, feminine, long, ethereal, blistering 94.5
2015 Chatto Isle - deeper and darker fruited, cherry flesh, cedar forest, Christmas tree, dry vanilla, dusty silty tannin excellent 93
2015 Yabby Lake Mornington - cherry and spice, vanilla and cinnamon, sweet fruit, 91
2013 Yabby Lake Mornington - dark cherry, cinnamon, grippy tannin. Nothing unusual. Linear, standard 91
2015 Port Phillip Estate Quartier - vanillan oak, spices, strawberry, touch of green, nice line of acid and tannin 90
2013 Port Phillip Estate Balnarrig - browning, earthen, dark cherry, vanilla, clove, wet tree bark, long strong drying tannin. Good 92
2015 Kooyong Massale - bright dark cherry spice, some varnish, vanilla, barnyard 90
2013 Kooyong Haven - vanilla, varnish lacquer, sweet red fruits, long tannin, nice line of acid. Not a huge fan 89
2015 Giant Steps - vanilla cherry strawberry, sweet light fruit, good palate carry 90
2015 Giant Steps Applejack - vanilla cherry strawberry, whole bunch, more serious line and length 91
2012 Dog Point Pinot - interesting, cherry dried herbs, smoked meats, varnish 90
2014 Dog Point Pinot - yes, nice, spicy, cherry, strawberry topping, dry, acid, sweet, good 91
2014 Spy Valley Pinot - sweet vanilla cherry cola, a whiff of mulch, light and bright, pretty bloody good. 90
2012 Spy Valley Envoy - dark and red cherry, five spice, wood shavings, serious. Prefer the entry. 91
2015 Maude - chook pooey strawberry, spiced, dark tannin, good 91
2015 Maude EMW - cherry, dried herbs, cinnamon, forest floor, solid 91.5
2015 Maude Reserve - pine, cherry and strawberry, could smell this all day. Lightweight palate, finesse and a long supple drying finish. Super strong showing from Maude. 92.5
2014 Mt Difficulty Roaring Meg - horsey, varnish, dark cherry fruit, over extracted? Decent finish 89
2014 Mt Difficulty Bannockburn - cherry and spice, supple, fleshy, dark green, strong 91
2011 Mt Difficulty Target Gully - smell the age on it. Dark fruits barnyard, acetone, meh. 89
2015 Dirty Three Gippsland - cherry, char, light dancing tannin, very good. Surprise 91
2015 Dirty Three Holgates Road Pinot - fuller and bigger, more serious, cherry, spice, all things nice, quality stuff 92
2014 Claude Rateau Borgogne - sour cherry, rancid strawberry funk, crunchy acid, 89
2013 Domaine Rollin Aloxe Corton - funky barnyard, cherry strawberry, drying tannin 91
2015 Joseph Chromy - chooks and rubber. Cherry And vanilla spice. Good wine 90
2012 Chromy Zoar Pinot - depth of flavour, spiced strawberry, goading, 92
2015 Ata Rangi Crimson - red roses, cinnamon, sweet, good 90
2014 Ata Rangi - sweet and savoury, tannin good, fruit sweet dusty cinnamon spiced over red cherry, very good 91.5
2015 Craggy Range Martinborough - dark cherry kirsch, wet wood nice tannin 90
2013 Te Muna Road Pinot - dark animals, cherry game spice anise 90
2012 craggy range Calvert - dark cherry spice, vanilla wood, balance. Savoury over sweet. Very good 91.5
2014 Craggy Range Aroha - termite eaten wet wood, alluring spice, cherry, savoury, long and strong 92
2014 Williams crossing - cherry acetone, sweet vanillan cherry, light bright. Strong effort 90
2013 Curly Flat Curly - whew, vanilla, savoury spice, dark earth, black cherry. This is a beaut. 92.5
2014 Curly Flat Curly - sour savoury spiced, cinnamon, cherry, light, bright, strong. 91.5
2014 Dry River Pinot - smoked meats, whew, light tannin, light mouthfeel, meaty herbal overtone, slight hot of medicinal flavour. Different, but good 91
2011 Dry River Pinot - bold, red cherry, bright, light, even, 90
2014 escarpment Martinborough Pinot -
2014 Escarpment Kiwa - stems and stalks
2014 Palliser Estate pencarrow - Martinborough - coffee beans, cherry, black olive, nice lines. Good stuff. 89
2014 Palliser Estate - dried cherry, herbal, bright and dry, good. 90
2016 Springvale Melrose - sweet cherry, spiced oak, vanilla, soft and light, nice balance, but a bit extracted 89
2015 Springvale Estate - better wine. Nice spiced cherry, dark, brooding, grippy tanning. Some wet wood in there. Decent 90
2009 Springvale Estate - whoa, here we go. Volume up. Dark cherry, picks up that barnyard goodness, then rolls a dark cherry. Feral, great 91
2013 Springvale Family Selection - dark deep cherry marzipan, Mulchy good. sweet cherry fruits, sweet herbs. Something good 91
2012 Henshcke Alan Adelaide Hills - cherry marzipan, sweet oak. Pretty, floral. 90
2013 Henshcke Giles - cherry charcoal oak, sweet fruit drying. Standard excellent winemaking by Henshcke. 91
2014 Shaw & Smith - dry and cherry, clean. Good winemaking, but lacks the sense of place. 90
2015 Bellbrae Longboard Pinot - cherry, bright and light. Smidge of whole bunch (30%). Nice wine. 90
2015 Bellbrae Estate Pinot - smokey dried vines,excellent.
2014 Austins & co - Burnt matchstick, red cherry, light bright good. 90
2015 6foot6 Pinot. - excellent cheaper Pinot. Good stuff 90
2012 Island custom collection - cinnamon, sweet spice beaut: cherry. good stuff 91
2012 Kyberd vineyard - huge savoury spice, dark cherry - gone

[maybs]

Sounds like a good day Paul, kept your palate busy! I went last year and it was great, except last year it was a stinking hot day, 35 or something, and both the people and wines suffered. Would have liked to go again this year but couldn't.

Did they have porteno or someone doing food and some beers and stuff too?

[Chris H]

Wow that is some serious note taking. Thanks for posting them all.

If you could go back and taste the standard Escarpment that would be great

[Benchmark]

I have tickets for this event in Melbourne this weekend I can't use.

Paid extra for early entry 11.00am-1.00pm to beat the rush.

PM me if you want to grab them.

[tarija]

pc79, that is quite an effort - you are a James Halliday in training!

[dave vino]

Worst part is he probably wrote it all on a piece of paper he found lying around. (Restaurant paper tablecloths are his favourite)

[pc79]

Dave, you'all be happy to know that all restaurant tablecloths etc are safe as I have moved to the 21st century and notes are piled in to the iPhone.
a great day, finished off with a couple of schooners at the Royal, and then home and shared half a bottle with mrs PC. Sore head this morning!!
Some nice surprises, not many disappointments. Highly highly recommend.

Tarija, I have a long way to go before I hit Halliday status. Miserly point scoring for one. How does anyone's sell a 91 point wine these days??

[Teisto]

Holy Moly what an awesome job of getting through all of that. We were there for the 11am start and tried to cram as much in as possible in that 2 hours before the hoards arrived! However got some great chats in with some of the people representing their brand.

Was an absolute shitfight after that. Agree with your sentiments on the Chatto wines and the Mt Maude and EMW were excellent. I enjoyed the Kooyong range and liked the Mt Difficulty Target Gully. Dry River was good to try but didn't wow me.

Looks like you missed out on Moorooduc or didn't put the notes down? I enjoyed those as well and was good to see Kate McIntyre there as well sprouting the family wares. She was an absolute wealth of knowledge

Great day but we were done by about 3. Apart from a destroyed palate, just didn't want to push through the 4 and 5 deep rows to get to the other stuff. Also the gaggle of people at Chatto that were saying how @#$%'ed their wines were when downing the hatch made me realise it was time to pull the pin.

[pc79]

It was certainly fast and furious. We were able to squeeze in through most of the crowds and to be honest although it got a little messy toward the end, there was never an issue getting in for a taste and a chat with the makers/reps. There were a few that I was keen to try, but just too many wines and not enough time meant it was just a smash and spit fest. A great day, but I do agree that it was pushing the boundaries as far as attendees were concerned.