2023 William Downie Gippsland Pinot Noir

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

A blend of fruit from the Matthews vineyard in Berrys Creeks and Manilla in Neerim South. Matthews was planted on red volcanic soil in 1998 and has always been dry grown. It is a cool, damp site and the vines grow dense, lush canopies. The vines at Manilla were planted to MV6 in 1983. The red volcanic soils face very slightly to the south and look in the direction of the Tarago reservoir. The wine smells of roasted peaches, iron stone and thyme. The palate is soft, round and textured.

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.