Bannockburn Pinot Noir 2023 750ml

This excellent release is an amalgamation of Bannockburn’s entire spectrum of vineyards. The 2023 includes fruit from Olive Tree Hill, planted in 1976, 10 Rows (1991), Stuart Block (1997) and Anns Block (2004). As with the Chardonnay, 2023’s paltry yields meant the team could not make De La Terre Pinot Noir, so fruit from that close-planted block was included in this blend. All the sites lie in volcanic loam and dark clay over a limestone base and are planted to various clones—mainly MV6 with a smattering of the Dijon (or Bernard) clones. The blocks fermented separately with approximately 20% bunches included and a small portion of carbonic maceration. After 7 to 10 days, the wine was pressed to hogsheads and puncheons (20% new) for 10 months’ maturation.

The dramatically reduced crop (down 50% on the already low-yielding 2022 vintage), coupled with the top quality in the glass, means this wine will be sold out in no time. It’s open for business from the word go, pure-fruited and pretty, with Bannockburn’s signature savouriness throughout. Just singing.

This is excellent. Fine, tight, intricate, wild and precise at once. Not exactly sure how they do that but here it is, they have. Cherries, meat, soy, strawberries, twiggy spice, some volatility, a fine web of tannin, some beet characters, some undergrowth. So much going on within an overall impression of control. Mightily impressed. 95 points