Apsley Gorge Pinot Noir / 2025 / 750mL

The Apsley Gorge Pinot Noir 2025 is a medium-bodied red from Bicheno on Tasmania's East Coast, leaning towards dark cherry and spice rather than the lighter, redder end of the variety. Perfume and acidity do the heavy lifting here, with the fruit sitting in the middle rather than dominating.

Aromatics open on morello cherry, mulberry and a twist of orange peel, with rosehip, thyme and a faint whiff of woodsmoke sitting behind. The palate follows through with satsuma plum and cranberry, a savoury undertow of beetroot and cured meat, and a lick of black tea through the middle.

Tannins are fine and slightly grippy, closer to bergamot skin than velvet, and they frame a wine of real drive. The 2025 season across Tasmania was warm and dry, bringing an early, compressed harvest, and this Bicheno Pinot Noir shows that in its ripe fruit weight, though the East Coast acidity keeps the finish long, tapered and refreshingly dry.

Pour it with duck breast and cherries, mushroom risotto, roast pork belly, or a plate of charcuterie and good bread. Twenty minutes in a decanter or a cool cellar temperature both flatter it.

Drink now through to about 2033, with the middle years likely to show the most secondary complexity.