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1997 PEGERIC PINOT NOIR TASTING NOTES The colour now shows some browning around the edges, a reflection of age. The most striking feature is the nose, which ranges from black cherries and violets to an intense stewed plum character reminiscent of Christmas pudding. The intensity increases with breathing time in the glass. Upon initial opening, the fruit is masked and the wood appears to dominate. But if the wine is allowed to breathe, the fruit lifts and comes to the fore, displaying multiple layers of spiciness, fused with the subtle smokiness of the high quality French oak. The palate exhibits a range of flavours, is full, soft and long and has developed some of the earthy, gamey characters that Pinot Noir is famous for. The acid backbone , a feature of the Macedon Region , has now integrated with the lingering tannins on the finish, but is still evident and ensures a long life for the wine. The 1997 vintage was aged in 100% New French oak for 18 months. Production was limited to a single barrique and only 15 dozen were released. As it was not filtered, the wine should be decanted. 1998 PEGERIC PINOT NOIR More intense colour than the 1997 vintage , it now also shows hints of brown as well as red with darkened edges. Once again, the nose is the highlight. The smoky oak has now combined with the fruit and an underlying spiciness reminiscent of stewed plums is also evident. Upon tasting, the fruit now compliments these elegant smoky overtones derived from the French Oak , followed by smooth tannins. The typical spiciness has now fused with the earthy, secondary characters which have come from the bottle development. The acid backbone , while not as pronounced as the 1997 vintage , is still in evidence. The 1998 vintage was aged in 100% New French oak barriques for 22 months. Around 100 dozen were released. The wine was not filtered and has thrown a heavy deposit in the bottle and needs to be decanted. 1999 PEGERIC PINOT NOIR The colour is brick red and now showing brown hues. The nose shows the spiciness that is typical of this vineyard combined with strawberry and cherry fruit. The smoky oak is evident in the background together with chocolate and plum. Upon tasting the rich almost sweet fruit is balanced by savoury integrated French oak. The earthy secondary characters that come with bottle age are now adding a further dimension to the palate . The vine age is beginning to exert its influence on the balance of the wine. The 1999 was aged in 100 % New French oak barriques for 20 months. Around 100 dozen were released. The wine was not filtered and needs to be decanted and allowed to breathe. 2000 PEGERIC PINOT NOIR The colour is brick red with brown hues. After a number of vintages, the vineyard seems to consistently impart an intense spiciness into the wines consisting of chocolate, cherry and plum. Upon tasting , the first impression is an explosion of cherry and ripe plum fruit at the front of the mouth . This is balanced by savoury smoky oak characters which are followed by lingering soft tannins . The bottle age now adds richness and depth to the finish . This seems to occur in PEGERIC Pinot Noir after about 8 years of age. It was aged in 100% New French oak barriques for 30 months , a practice that is rare in production of Pinot Noir in Australia , but the wine does not exhibit excessive oakiness that might be expected from this treatment. Around 100 dozen were released. Although the wine had a light filtration, it should be decanted and allowed to breathe for best enjoyment. 2005 PEGERIC LATE PICKED SWEET STYLE Very rare in Australia, this is our first sweet wine made from Pinot Noir. The grapes were left on the vine to develop Botrytis and the last day of harvest was on June 18. There was only a relatively low infection of Botrytis cinerea and consequently the wine is not made in the excessively rich style . It is more akin to the delicate styles of cooler climate wines such as those made in Germany. With its lower alcoholic strength (around 8.6 al/vol ) our sweet style is ideally suited to desserts , cakes and cheeses that require a wine with subtle flavours .The wine should age well. Serve chilled. |