Susie & Peter / Podcast Episodes  / Season Four / Australian Pinot Noir Comes of Age

Summmary

Every wine lover craves great Pinot Noir. Burgundy is ever pricier and scarcer. So where to look?

Australia might not seem the obvious destination for Pinot Noir. It’s better known for hefty reds (think: Shiraz, Cabernet), historic styles like Hunter Semillon or its famous ‘stickies’ (sweet and fortified like Rutherglen).

And if there’s a Burgundian variety closely associated with Oz, it’s Chardonnay.

And yet…over the last few years, Ozzie Pinot Noir has come on leaps and bounds to capture the zeitgeist and become the grape everyone’s talking about. From Tasmania to Yarra, Mornington, Adelaide Hills and beyond, this is a grape helping re-define modern Australian wine and offering wine drinkers a glimpse of wine nirvana.

In this sponsored episode with Wine Australia, we talk to writer Matthew Jukes, grower Mac Forbes and sommelier Jane Lopes to tell the story of how and why Australian Pinot Noir has gone from zero to hero, and what the future holds.

We talk terroir, regionality, climate change, sustainability, winemaking – and tackle the elephant in the room, value for money. (There’s also mention of tomato throwing, UV, the Holy Grail, stomping, the God complex, DNA – not to mention a slightly awkward moment when Susie admits she loves a wine more than Peter…)

As ever, we taste and recommend some favourites which capture the impressive diversity and sheer thrill of Ozzie Pinot Noir (see below for more on this).

By way of final word, this episode contains the memorable quote: ‘Why fart around with Burgundy when you can buy this?!’

Starring

Links

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Wines

Here are the wines we taste and recommend in this episode. Click on the wine name for the Wine Searcher link to find where you can buy this wine around the world:

Further Recommendations

There are so many exciting producers and wines when it comes to Australian Pinot Noir, we couldn’t fit them all in the podcast.

So here’s a very rough listing of producers and wines we rate as well worth trying in addition to the above (including a cool Pinot in a can):

  • Yabby Lake, Mornington (Red Claw)
  • Ten Minutes By Tractor, Mornington (Wallis)
  • Paringa, Mornington (Estate or Peninsula)
  • Kooyong, Mornington (Single Block Meres or Ferrous)
  • Ocean Eight, Mornington
  • Scorpo, Mornington (Estate)
  • Crittenden, Mornington (The Zumma)
  • Polperro, Mornington
  • Moorooduc, Mornington (Robinson)
  • Sailor Seeks Horse, Tasmania
  • Stargazer, Tasmania (Palisander)
  • Domaine Simha, Tasmania (Nature)
  • Joseph Cromy, Tasmania
  • Pooley, Tasmania (Cooinda Vale)
  • Dalrymple, Tasmania
  • Timo Mayer, Yarra (The Doktor)
  • Mac Forbes, Yarra
  • Payton & Jones, Yarra
  • Rob Dolan, Yarra (White Label)
  • Hoddles Creek, Yarra
  • Lethbridge, Geelong
  • The Story, Henty (R. Lane Vintners)
  • Bass Philip, Gippsland (Estate)
  • Vinterloper, Adelaide Hills
  • Ashton Hills, Adelaide HIlls
  • Larry Cherubino, Pemberton (Laissez Faire)
  • Small Things, Margaret River (Pinot Noir in a can!)

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