Medium-light red-purple colour; smoked meaty reductive notes at first sniff (which cleaned up in the glass), then sweet red berries come rocketing through with a delicious succulence. A very slurpy young pinot for pleasurable early drinking. Points: 91/100
Stonier's bread and butter range and a good 'un this vintage. Fruit off grower vineyards but all managed in-house, which gives a level of quality control. This pops and crackles with vitality, good fruit and varietal flavour. Heady aromas are punctuated by red cherries and blood orange doused in exotic spices and fresh herbs. The palate is on the light side of medium bodied with fine tannins and refreshing acidity throughout. A lovely drink. Points: 94/100
This wine got me a bit excited. The 2024 vintage was Julian Grounds' first vintage at the helm but you'd never know; he just seems to understand the place. The wine: it's lifted and poised and it has layers. It's a wild, exuberant, berried red wine, light and generous at once, you pick this up and think, This is Stonier pinot. It scratches the pinot itch and it scratches the Stonier itch. This isn't the highest-pointed wine in the range, but it's the most exciting. Think undergrowth with spiced strawberries and black cherries rippling throughout. It flows, it seduces and it refreshes. Points: 93/100
