Home Hill Estate Pinot Noir / 2023 / 750mL

The Home Hill Estate Pinot Noir 2023 comes from the Huon Valley in southern Tasmania, about as far south as commercial vineyards go in Australia, and it shows in the wine's brightness and lift. This is a medium-bodied, cool-climate Pinot Noir built on perfume and clarity rather than depth of colour or weight.

Aromatically it leads with morello cherry and cranberry, with rhubarb and a little crushed violet behind. There's a savoury edge too — dried thyme, wet stone, a touch of forest floor. The palate follows the nose closely: tart red fruit up front, then a mid-palate that broadens into something more spiced and earthy, with a faint bitter-cherry pip note that keeps things serious. Tannins are fine and slightly grippy, more like the skin of a red plum than anything drying, and the acidity runs straight through the middle of the wine. Texture is silky without being plush. The finish is long and clean, fading on sour cherry and herbs rather than sweetness.

Serve at around 15°C, and give it twenty minutes in the glass or a short decant. It suits duck breast, lamb ragu, mushroom risotto, roast quail, or a plate of jamón and hard cheese. Drinking well now and should hold and improve through to around 2030.