Stephen Wong
Light, clear ruby. Beguilingly sweet aromas of honeyed toast, vanilla oak and anise-spiced raspberry coulis with wild strawberry notes adding some herbal freshness. Both reticent and charming at the same time, there is quite noticeable oak and grainy, coffee-ish tannins competing with the pure, pretty and delicate fruit profile, resulting in some youthful disjointedness which will need to resolve in bottle. Yet, despite the structure and wood, this possesses an airy, ethereal quality and underlying laciness which will ultimately emerge victorious once everything integrates. Give it another year to settle and watch this perfumed, lighter-weight pinot noir blossom like a night orchid over the coming decade. There’s something just a touch fragile about this which gives pause, but the pedigree and innate depth is clearly on display. Perhaps not for the very long term but this is an intriguing and fascinating wine nonetheless. Points: 95/100
