2023 gave us a true Goldilocks vintage: a cool growing season, generous soil moisture, and a relaxed, mild harvest window. It was a year where the vineyard felt at ease—and the wines followed suit.

For this Pinot, each of our seven clones was picked and vinified separately, using a range of techniques to build complexity. Some lots were hand-destemmed, some whole-cluster, others carbonic or a combination. Maceration ran 7–10 days, beginning with semi-carbonic conditions and finishing with gentle hand plunging. After basket pressing, wines were settled for 24 hours and then transferred to either well-seasoned barrels (average age 10 years) or tank. Élevage was split 70% barrel, 30% tank, with everything racked by gravity and bottled on-site after 8 months.

If there’s one word to sum up the 2023 Pinot Noir, it’s purity. Ferments were healthy and harmonious from start to finish, and the wine felt complete almost from the outset. It’s layered and bright—showing confected red fruits alongside subtle spice, wet-gravel reduction, and a whisper of earth and leafy character. Not green—more like that delicate, dry edge of autumn leaves just before they fall.

Exceptionally balanced, everything in its right place. Quite possibly the truest expression of Pinot we’ve made so far.

Organically farmed, made and bottled by us at our home in West Gippsland.

Label artwork drawn by the exceptionally talented Lilli @honeytrippertattoo

Adriana & Al xo