Five Nations Pinot Battle

[felixp21]

Five Nation Battle

six of us got together to let them battle it out. Pinot Noir from the 2018 vintage.
all round, 2018 is a pretty decent vintage, vastly underrated in Burgundy, but rated good to very good in the other countries, and at about 6 years of age, a great time to have a look.
served blind, the tastinf was preceded by an underwhelming and advanced 2016 Gautheron Chablis GC Vaudesir and a decent Pol Roger 2008.

Argentina
2018 Treinta Y Dos," Chacra'', Patagonia
well, that's an unusual start. If I didn't know this was pinot (haven't seen this wine before) I would swear this is a cab franc from the Loire. Quite a pronounced menthol note on the nose, persists on the palate. Good length, fresh and supple. Nice wine, but certainly doesn't scream Pinot!!!
87 points drink- not sure, I guess now??

New Zealand
2018 Prophet's Rock Cuvee Antipodes
fantastic effort, this is a real world class wine. in the Clos Vouget mould, beautiful red fruits, exceptional length. Should look incredible in another decade. Outside of Kusuda, best "antipodean" pinot I have ever seen.
94 points, drink 2028-2040

USA
2018 Rhys Alpine Vineyard (Santa Cruz)
jeepers, another absolute ball-tearer. The balance is utterly perfect, the length stunning. There are a heap of GC Burgundy producers who would kill to be able to make a wine this exciting. There's just a little hint of La Tache in this, at 5% of the price!! This is the best Pinot Noir I have ever had outside Burgundy, and I have drunk an awful lot of New World Pinots!! Universally WOTN by a country mile.
97 points, drink 2025-2045

Australia
2018 Mount Mary
suffered a lot coming after the Rhys, but to be fair it has the typical Aussie structure of up-front lovely red fruit and not much else. On its own this would be very pleasant indeed, but outclassed here.
89 points, drink now-2030

France
2018 Joseph Voillot Volnay Caillerets
a wine i have adored since release, this is an archetypical Volnay, red fruited, rocky, round and complex, with length to burn. It also happens to be the cheapest wine presented tonight. Easy for me to pick, I have seen it at least six times over the past four years. Still, I am not biased, as this was unanimously loved by the group.
94 points, drink 2030-2045

wonderful night and great food, the voting had the Rhys a mile in front, universal number one, with the Voillot and the Prophets Rock sharing the second place honours. In the interest of full disclosure, next came the Chacra (my heathen tasting mates) and sadly the Mount Mary brought up the rear in everyone's tasting notes except for me.

[JamieAdelaide]

Must keep an eye out for the Rhys.

[Croquet King]

After reading that I'd love to try it.
Best Pinot outside of Burgundy - huge praise.

Has anyone in Aus found where to buy this wine?

[felixp21]

you can get it here for $477 a bottle.
or you can go to Hong Kong, where it is $200 a bottle

[felixp21]

I mention those prices because if you wanted to buy 6 bottles of said wine, it is actually cheaper to fly to HK, spend four nights there, enjoy the sights, and come home with the six pack.

[JamieAdelaide]

I spend a week a month in Hong Kong at Shangri La TST and a bit of time in California. Probably cheaper in Hong Kong. USA is really pricey.