Hoddles Estate Hoddles Creek Estate Pinot Gris (Skin Contact) / 2025 / 750mL

The Hoddles Creek Estate Pinot Gris 2025 is a dry, cool-climate white from the Yarra Valley in Victoria, built around pear and citrus rather than sweetness or weight. It sits in the crisper, more savoury end of the Gris spectrum, with enough texture to keep it interesting beyond the first glass.

Nashi pear, green apple skin and a squeeze of lemon lead the aromatics, with a faint waft of white blossom and something almost like fresh ginger behind them. The fruit is clean and precise, never confected.

On the palate the wine is medium-bodied and gently chalky, with a slippery mid-palate that gives way to brisk acidity. Pear and quince carry through the middle, then the finish turns dry and faintly bitter in the way good Gris should, leaving the mouth refreshed rather than coated.

Pour it with salt and pepper squid, a ham and gruyère toastie, roast chicken with lemon, or a plate of prosciutto and rockmelon. It also handles Vietnamese herbs and rice paper rolls without flinching, and works well as an aperitif on a warm afternoon.

Drink the Pinot Gris 2025 from now through to around 2028, while the fruit is fresh and the acid line is taut. Serve it cool but not frozen, around 10 degrees, so the texture has a chance to show itself.