Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
95 Points
"Some of Tasmania’s finest. It only sees 5% whole bunches but there’s oodles of spice here. It makes such an excellent impression. Smoky and sweet at once, ripe and tangy too. It’s a savoury style but there’s far more to it than that. Tannin curls and cuts as it tightens and pulls. We call it cherry red and black and sometimes plum but it tastes more so of pinot noir. An infusion of sweet, roasted nuts. Beautiful."
Tasted : Mar18
Alcohol : 13.4%
Price : $50
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2018 - 2026
Mike Bennie, Winefront
94 Points
"Complex perfume of dark cherry, black olive, brambles, pepper. Sleek and slurpy in texture, fine boned tannins, brisk acidity. An effortless glide to this wine. Unadorned but so much poise to the pristine fruit. Just beautiful."
Campbell Mattinson, Winefront
95 Points
"There’s no doubt this chardonnay from the Huon Valley in Tasmania ‘sails’ close to the “underdone” flag. Flirting with danger comes with the territory when your aim is high. It’s like a photograph taken in cool early light. The tips of everything are brightly but lightly exposed. It tastes of saline and white peach, lemon curd and sweet spice, crackles of woodsmoke and mineral firing through the finish. At once it’s sharp, taut, nervy and beautiful. Maybe you have to be of a certain mind, but personally I think this is stunning."
Tasted : Mar18
Alcohol : 12.9%
Price : $50
Closure : Screwcap
Drink : 2019 - 2026
Mike Bennie, Winefront
94+ Points
"Ripe stone fruit, faint melon, touch of halva, zesty citrus. Good start. Polish and gloss in the palate, concentration and precision, great drive, vitality, belt of cool, tingly, minerally acidity. Quite a complex wine yet refreshing too. Plenty of life left as well. Super release."
Elin McCoy, Bloomberg 50 Best Wines Under $50
"Tasmania is fast becoming the latest hot source of delicate, savory, supple pinot noirs, such as this one, to rival Burgundy."
Ned Goodwin
97 Points
Mike Bennie, Winefront
94 Points
"A winery that hit the ground running. One could even say they hit the ground at a full gallop. Spicy, pepper, red currants and cranberry, leaner spectrum but fine. Palate way softer, spreads well but webbed in fine tannins, refreshing acidity, cherry fruitiness, amaro finish. So sleek and fine. Soft,. Beautiful."
Mike Bennie, Winefront
94 Points
"A young, dynamic Tasmanian couple who have aced their grape growing and now shifted attention to winemaking. They planted chardonnay to early ripening clones in 2010, and this is their first release. Fermented in various oak vessels and left to mature for a year or so then settled in stainless steel for three months before bottling. What a stellar release. Run, don’t walk. Tight, fine, tense, wonderful chardonnay. Taut and crisp. All flint and quartz, so flighty and fine. Sniff of sea spray, lick of saline character in the pure, lacy flow of green apply-grapefruit flavours. Electric acidity. Exceptional length. Has pure class written all over it. A modern incarnation of chardonnay with grape flavour at its core. Beautifully done."
Ned Goodwin, Wine Companion
93 Points
93+ Points
"The 2013 release from this Huon Valley-based star-in-the-making was a ripper of a wine. This 2014 release - wild yeast, unfined - continues the run. The fruit feels incredibly pure and yet there's ample undergrowthy character too. That's a combination for you. Reductive characters add a minerally edge; woodsmoke and glossy oak keeps the feeling of polish high. But it's the fruit - cherried, boysenberried, almost plummy - that sets the tone, and drives the quality. This still seems incredibly young and fresh; it has a tang that seems almost raw. It's gorgeous drinking."
95 Points
"We have here a new star in the making. Pinot noir from the Huon Valley. For the story of the vineyard click here. The wine itself sees 10% whole bunches, wild yeast, and is bottled unfined. It’s the handiwork of Paul and Gilli Lipscombe. Snooze, you lose. This wine will fly. It deserves to. I’ve never met Paul or Gilli but I could tell as soon as I twisted the cap: these are not average wine folk, and this is not your average wine endeavour. 400 dozen.This is the first release. Imagine the joy of Paul and Gilli when their first wine started to form and grow. There must have been high excitement. The wine announces its quality in unequivocal fashion. It’s perfumed, spicy, savoury and sweet; it won’t be pigeonholed. It stands on feet of firm tannin and acidity; upright; confident. It offers boysenberry, cranberry and sweet red cherry. Undergrowth. Herbs. Smoky reduction. It’s tangy but it’s also silken. Its complexity is like old money; so inherent, it seems simple. The finish soars. As everything about the wine predicted it would. The rush. The inevitability. The quality."
17/20
"Made by Paul and Gilli Lipscombe. Wild yeast, 10% whole bunches. Unfined. Lightly stalky nose and palate, very sweet strawberry fruit but the fresh acidity and slight peppery character (presumably from the stalks), means it is not overly sweet. In fact that stalky character gives a savoury flavour rather than a herbaceous character. Very fine texture, extremely supple, delicate but sustained. So elegant. Delicious in its light fragrance and sweet fruitedness. (JH)
"This is like a stripped-back Lamborghini roadster. All the essentials; nothing superfluous. It is an attractive, beautifully structured pinot from one of the coolest vineyards in the state (at Cradoc in the Huon Valley). This is the first commercial vintage (tiny amounts were made in 2012) and it is delightfully aromatic, medium-bodied with dense fruit, hints of mushroom and forest floor, along with well-integrated oak and bright acid. A dashing debut."