2019 Dalrymple, pinot noir, Pipers River, Tasmania, Australia
£172.20 for six bottles (£28.70 each), vinvm.co.uk; £32.99, flagshipwines.co.uk; £29.95, fieldandfawcett.co.uk; £31.95, nywines.co.uk
As every year passes Dalrymple makes finer and finer wines. The 2011 vintage of this very wine made my 100 Best Australian Wines Report, back in 2013, and beautiful wines from this estate have popped up four times since. Every time they gather more intensity, flair and accuracy. Tassie’s climate is perfect for both elite pinot noir and chardonnay and over the last decade or so the wines have graduated from being diverting and enjoyable to seriously collectable and globally relevant.
Winemaker Peter Caldwell is a brilliant chap, humble, great fun, honest, and aware of just how bright the future is for his winery. As he says, “What I’ve learned is patience. Knowing that a vineyard is an evolving organism buffeted by climate and wind and rain and sun. There are no repeat years. No textbooks. The vineyard and I work together, each within our own limitations”. As you can see, Pete is intricately involved in his wines and so it is desperately exciting for me to introduce you to this scintillating 2019 vintage.
A genuine tour de force, this is one of the most exciting Aussie pinots of the year and the value for money is tremendous. With a heavenly black-cherry perfume, stunning depth of fruit on the palate and a liberal dusting of spice, coming from 24% new oak for 11 months, this is a must-buy for pinot freaks everywhere!