2021 Bindi Kaye Pinot Noir

WINEMAKER: Michael Dhillon
REGION: Macedon Ranges, VIC
VARIETAL: Pinot Noir
VITICULTURE: Organic/Biodynamic

This is a very sentimental wine from our most elevated vineyard, planted in 2001, that pays tribute to my mother, Kaye. It’s a vineyard with a stunning perspective over the other vineyards, the winery, house and to the forests and hills beyond. There are some lovely metaphors, no doubt. The site has a lot of quartz and mudstone, a smattering of volcanic soils that have eroded down from the volcanic plateau above, and produces a wine of fragrance, structure and complexity. The 2020 Kaye has weight and complexity beyond its vintage. It is typically spicy and shows lifted rose petal aromas with the usual savoury cherry edge. The palate has fine layers of creamy fruit depth and is driven by fine, gently chewy tannin and fresh acidity. It will begin to drink near its best in four years time and be in its best zone for a decade after that.

This special single vineyard (Block K) bottling is dedicated to Kaye Dhillon (1938-1985) and comes from two select parcels (from within the Block K vineyard) from our most elevated Bindi planting established in 2001. One Block K parcel of 115 clone Pinot Noir runs directly alongside Block 5 and the other parcel comes from the very top Block K rows of the MV6 clone Pinot Noir.

This vineyard sits just below the end of the Mount Gisborne lava flow and is underpinned by ancient Ordovician period soils incorporating mudstone, sandstone, much quartz rock and clay with a covering of varying amounts of much younger, fine volcanic top soil.

The selection for KAYE is limited to the best vats from the specific soil profiles and is generally between 70 and 150 dozen, vintage dependent. These vines are managed in the usual Bindi way without herbicides or pesticides and utilise undervine cultivation and extremely rigorous hand canopy management from pruning to harvest.