Bindi Block Five Pinot 2003

707 · Post by **707** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 1:32 pm

Yes, I know 707 tasting Pinot is news but I only tried it because I was at an options night and had no choice!

In the glass this was obviously Pinot but a bit sweet, nose a bit like many Rose's and not particularly complex, a nice easy quaffer, probably $20ish?

Got blown away when the bag came off to reveal $100 worth of Bindi, a label I knew of but had never tried.

Is the 2003 a good vintage for this label? Is this what they are normally like? Is Bindi one of those strange cult labels that gets its quality and price inflated by a few monied types?

Something like Ashton Hills would blow it away for flavour and complexity at just a third of the price.

Bobsi · Post by **Bobsi** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 6:53 pm

Hav'nt tried it 707 but if you want a great Pinot for about $30 there is a warmer weather Pinot available at Peter Leahmann Cellar door or on website that is one of the best Pinot ive had. Gapes from the Barrossa down in the gully area. Shocked me how good it was particually after Penfolds draino version.

Bobsi · Post by **Bobsi** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 7:18 pm

$22 actually i was thinking of the futures shiraz pricing. Will be opening one of my 2 bottles in the next week or so.

Stuart K · Post by **Stuart K** » Wed Feb 23, 2005 11:34 pm

Steve, what did you drink (or eat) beforehand?
IMO pinot is the most sensitive wine to drinking conditions.
Perhaps you had a burly red before which masked the delicate nature of the wine.
I have never had a Bindi - they are hard to track down, but I have only read glowing reviews in any publication.

707 · Post by **707** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 9:14 am

We'd had our usual mix of cold meats, cheese and reds beforehand but no different than other times when a Pinot has been shown and according to the Pinot gurus in the group they've been excellent.

This one just didn't hit the spot.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 10:57 am

2003 is a bugger of a year for victorian pinot noir. Quality, and style, is all over the place. Some good wines, lots of simple wines, some stewy wines, some shocking wines, and some wines that are really very good. Proceed with extreme caution. Poor fruit set, hot year, rain, a lot of factors. Site more important than ever. Vineyard management more important than ever. Luck more important than ever. Clone more important than ever. I haven't specifically seen 2003 bindi, so have absolutely no judgement of it, but I would not judge the estate on that wine alone. 2003 also tends, if you can make any generalisation, to be a pinot vintage that bred "ripe, but simple" pinot noir in Victoria. We are looking at them very young. The question is whether or not they will add complexity in 3 or 4 years time, or whether they'll just bouse out and fall over.

Campbell.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 12:36 pm

The Plunkett Pinot Noir is my favourite.

mphatic · Post by **mphatic** » Thu Feb 24, 2005 1:39 pm

Steve,

I preferred the 2003 Original Pinot to the block 5. Thought it had much more concentration. Overall though, I thought the 2000 Block 5 to be travelling very nicely. See my notes made a few months ago from the Bindi tasting in Brisbane.

Stan · Post by **Stan** » Sat Feb 26, 2005 9:54 am

Pinot can be a funny beast I reckon.

I tried a village Burgundy last week, stupidly, at the end of a shiraz bracket and it was absolute piss. 1996 vintage Gevrey Chambertin, Lignier. Lean and acidic.

The person who took it to the tasting gave me the same wine blind later in the week at a dinner out of a decanter at a restaurant before any high alcohol, big plavoursome reds we served. It was brilliant. They proved their point. Have I got a stuffed palate, does serving order count? Or was it bottle variation?

I think from my recent experience that some wines need the right context more than others. And glassware. The Gevrey at the tasting was in ISO glasses and at the dinner it was in Riedel Burgundy glasses. It was fruitier, deeper, more powerful, sweeter....a different experience.

Cheers,

Stan
(Pinot lover, sometimes)

Stan · Post by **Stan** » Mon Apr 04, 2005 8:34 pm

I tried this wine last week and was impressed. I did see a note by Jeremy Oliver before that and may have been influenced by his score of 97/100.

The price was not $100 but $80 and I understand the mailing list price is closer to $75.

At the same tasting there was a Bannockburn Serre 1999 which was more powerful and more profound but has clearly had more time to mature.

Stan