Bursting with bright red fruit and with Bannockburn's savoury/earthy signature woven throughout, there's enticing purity, great fruit tannin and a deliciously supple mouthfeel. A touch of sweet-and-sour complexity on the finish offers a glimpse of things to come as it evolves, but it's absolutely singing already. Dive in.
About BANNOCKBURN
Since its establishment by Stuart Reginald Hooper in 1974, Bannockburn Vineyards has been at the vanguard of the Australian fine wine story, producing vineyard designated wines of the highest quality from the start. Lying 25 kilometres northwest of Geelong along the Midland Highway, this heavyweight estate is located in the Moorabool Valley sub-region, just outside the township of Bannockburn. The estate comprises 26 vineyard blocks¡ªincluding the iconic Serre vineyard (now the site of Australia's oldest close-planted Pinot Noir vines). Here, Bannockburn's predominantly mature vines are rooted in one of Victoria's most unique low-fertility terroirs; volcanic surface debris and ancient seabeds running to richer and darker soils, layered over predominantly limestone bedrock.
Following almost a decade under the steam train of energy and passion that was Michael Glover, Matt Holmes is the winemaker charged with writing the next chapter of this singular estate. Perhaps most significantly, feeling the region was too arid to get the best of the dry-grown, densely-planted vineyards, Bannockburn and Holmes have turned on the tap' (to encourage the kind of canopies Holmes deems crucial for his vines' balance). Holmes has also introduced an earlier bottling regime and a more flexible use of whole bunches than his predecessor.
All of Bannockburn's close-planted vineyards are now certified organic. Matt Holmes believes that as soon as he and his team had started the process of improving vine health a few years ago, the upshot in fruit quality was immediately noticeable in the wines. Under Holmes' direction there's also been a stylistic tilt in the winery, and with his Chardonnay, he's steering a racier, more mouth-watering course with less emphasis on lees and oak and more on vibrant acidity and freshness. Yet it is perhaps the style and quality of Bannockburn's Pinot Noir in which the changes can be most keenly observed. An earlier-bottling regime and more reticent use of whole bunches are resulting in a purity of expression perhaps never seen under this label.
