Dexter Pinot Noir / 2024 / 750mL

The Dexter Pinot Noir 2024 is a medium-bodied red from the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria, built around bright red fruit and a savoury, slightly earthy edge. It has the perfume and fine-boned structure that make Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir such a reliable food wine. 

Aromas lean towards red cherry, cranberry and rhubarb, with darker hints of black tea and dried thyme sitting underneath. The palate follows the nose closely: sour cherry and pomegranate up front, then a turn towards forest floor and a whisper of clove as the wine opens in the glass. There is real clarity to the fruit here, nothing jammy or overworked. Tannins are fine and gently grippy, more like the skin of a cherry than anything drying, and the acidity runs cleanly through the middle to keep everything taut. The texture is silky without being soft, and the finish is long, dry and faintly savoury, leaving the fruit lingering rather than any sense of sweetness.

Serve at around 16 degrees, or give it twenty minutes in the fridge on a warm evening. It suits duck breast, mushroom risotto, roast pork with fennel, or a plate of charcuterie and washed-rind cheese. Drinking well now and should hold comfortably through to around 2032.