2023 William Downie Camp Hill Pinot Noir

WINEMAKER: William Downie
REGION: Mornington Peninsula/King Valley, VIC
VARIETY: Pinot Noir
VITICULTURE: Organic

This site was planted in 1998 at 250m elevation and is considered the highest point between the Strzelecki and Great Dividing Ranges. The vineyard faces north with almost 360 degree views of Baw Baw Shire. Most of the vines are MV6 with a couple of rows of 115. The red volcanic soils have a little more rock than the Bull Swamp site and the wine is finer and more delicate as a result. The lifted and bright nose shows rose petal, liquorice, pomegranate and poached pear. The palate is transparent, detailed, fine and mineral.

The 2023 harvest has given us a collection of complex and enjoyable wines that include, for the first time since 2016, a bottling from the Mornington Peninsula. They are all fine and approachable now but each will reward the more patient among us. The wines from our own vineyards, Bull Swamp and Camp Hill, produced only around 1 tonne of grapes per hectare largely as a result, yet again, of poor flowering. While this has not adversely affected quality, it has severely restricted availability to our customers.