Tapanappa Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2010, South Fleurieu Australia

Foggy Hill Pinot Noir 2010 from South Fleurieu was made by Brian Croser ( ex Petaluma winemaker). The Foggy Hill Vineyard is on a northwest-facing slope at 300 to 350 metres (ASL) at Parawa, the highest point of the Fleurieu Peninsula half way between Victor Harbor and Cape Jervis. The climate of here is very maritime. The Great Southern Ocean just 8 kilometres to the south keeps the winter warm and the summer cool. The wine style produced is amazingly Burgundin in style.The Dijon clone vines were planted in 2004 with the first wine vintage being 2007.

The winemakers notes are '
The Pinot Noir fruit was destemmed crushed and chilled to 3°C, 50ppm of SO₂ was added and the must was placed into the 1 tonne fermenters. The fermentation tubs were sealed down for 4 days for a cold maceration and were then seeded with a yeast strain selected from our own vineyards. Our own strain of malo-lactic bacteria was added at the same time. The tubs were hand plunged morning and night throughout the fermentation.
The fermentation on skins lasted 10 days and at its peak of activity reached 35ºC for a two-day period. When all of the sugar was exhausted the tubs were sealed down for a further 7 days of juice contact with the skins. The contents of the tubs were transferred to a small air bag press and drained and lightly pressed to barriques without any settling. A mixture of 30% new and the balance one and two year use French oak barriques were used.
The wine was allowed to sit on lees until the malo-lactic fermentation was complete in November after which it was racked and SO₂ was added before the wine was returned to barrique. After 9 months in barrique the wine was clear racked in January and was bottled on February 18th 2011 '

The wine itself, was ruby coloured and had a whiff of spice uplifting the red fruit aromas with a slight candied edge and rose petal for interest. On the palate, red currant, cherry, spice and a slight herbal nuance, slightly minty. The length was good with red fruit enrobed by sweet spices to the end. The tannins were grippy and had a chalky texture and did not feel as ripe as many of the 2010 Australian Pinots! This is avaiable from Wine Direct at a cost of £23+ a bottle. An elegant Burgundian style wine which has much to offer - watch this space!
Score : 85

Ocean Eight Pinot Noir 2009 Mornington Peninsula Victoria, Australia

Ocean Eight Pinot Noir 2009 is crafted in the very cool climate in the Mornington Peninsula, where the winery is owned by the Aylward family and made by official Young Gun of Wine Mike Aylward . The Mornington Peninsula wine region lies to the South East of Melbourne and is bounded by Port Phillip and Westernport Bays and so has a true maritime climate which modifies the temperature range and provides relatively high summer humidity hence vine stress is low, sunshine hours are abundant, and rainfall is plentiful during winter and spring, a great growing enviroment.
Also with late ripening, a prolonged gentle autumn leads to fully ripe grapes with outstanding fruit flavours, high natural acidity and fine tannins. This is perfect for Pinot Noir and also for Chardonnay, but over the last century many have tried to grow grapes here without little success as matching the variety to climate is never more important than here.

This wine does not disappoint - it has wonderful earthy aromas with a twist of leather and spice in the red fruit and cranberry mix, on the palate, silky texture, low ripe tannins and the fruit once more is sweet and ripe. The taut acidity matches the well tucked in alcohol ( 13.5%) and the earthy, spicey flavours are savoury and the length is good with a hint of leather towards the end - a really well made wine from a good maker - enjoy! This wine will continue to improve in bottle for 1-3 years and its Burgundian style is enticing. It is available from North and South Wines at a cost of £25.99.
Score : 89


The grapes are picked by hand and delivered to our gravity fed winery. The ferment on skin is kept cool with constant plunging. This cool ferment builds fantastic aromatics in pinot noir. The plunging helps extract flavour and colour from the skins of pinot noir. Once fermentation is complete, the wine is pressed into barrel and stored at a constant temperature in our unique underground barrel room for 12 months with 50% new oak.

For information on the Mornington Peninsula click here.