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2018 A1 Pinot Noir (AUS)
Every sense is activated from the first pass, this wine is all about depth and complexity.
Spice, wild herbs and brooding plummy fruit emanate from the glass with an airy perfume. Intriguing brown spice rack and graphite infuse with leafy sous bois aromatics. The nose is highly detailed - compact and focused - it should open impressively with time.
Very fine and silky entry, plenty of structure over a precise and linear framework. Delicate form with harmonic acidity driving line and length. The balance between fruit, tannin and acid is special and suggests a fascinating voyage ahead. Detail, perfumed aromatics, silk-like texture and subtle persistence define this year’s A1.
Compelling now but definitely one for the cellar, 5 to 7 years to the high plateau of evolution.
Food – Birds: big or small, wild or farmed, but duck with potatoes roasted in said bird’s fat would be perfect. Salad, as usual, entirely optional.
95 Points “Considering the heat of this vintage, this has turned out really well. This is taut and aromatic with fresh, vivid cherry and raspberry fruit. The palate has a lovely energy, showing bright, elegant red and black cherry fruit with a silky texture: there’s some finesse and a fine herbal quality sitting under the fruit. There’s a lovely fruit quality here, but it blends so beautifully with the more savoury, structural elements.”
95 Points “Fresh, youthful and fruit centric bouquet with aromas of fresh raspberry and dark cherry, sweet oak and spices to match a toasty barrel scent. Youthful and quietly complex. Tense, youthful and dry on the palate with a firm and youthful texture, chalky tannins and ripe almost sweet acid line. Flavours of fruits and spices reflect the nose. Length youthful finish, well made and ready to enjoy from today and through 2028.”
94 Points “Fabulously perfumed, real complexity and aromatic layering here, the core of sweet and pulpy red fruits, plenty of clove and cardamom spice, vanilla, those sweet truffle and beetrooty notes too in a very arresting picture. Lovely juiciness and firmness on the palate, with a stripe of tannin and a dry, tangy olive and cherry bite to the acidity, but the fruit stays sweet through the mid-palate, the texture builds as the chalkiness of the tannins smooth the finish, the fruit and acid precision and brightness is excellent. A beautiful wine, which they expect to have at least 10 years of cellaring potential.”
2018 Akitu A1 Pinot Noir - Blending
Clones: 53% Abel, 16% 777, 11.5% 115, 10% Clone 5, 6.5% 667, 3% 114
Treatment: 38% whole bunch, balance whole berry, 15% new French oak
Volume: 10,648 litres – 1,183 x 12b cases equivalent
Technical: Alcohol 14.15%, TA 5.8g/l, pH 3.63
Harvest Dates: 30th March – 6th April 2018
Bottling Date: 28th March 2019