The Stonier International Pinot Noir tasting has become a fully booked annual fixture over the past 12 years. Very deliberately, the Stonier team, lead by the event creator Brian Stonier AO, has observed the old adage: not broken, don’t fix. Thus the format has remained the same: 12 top-rated pinots from around the world served in two flights of six. A spiral-bound booklet provides copious amounts of information about each of the wines, but neither the audience nor the panellists (Matthew Jukes of the UK doubling up as MC, Huon Hooke and myself) know the order in which they are presented.
Hooke and I do most of the panel talking, with five “table captains” in the audience pre-warned that they will be called on to present the views of their respective tables, and encouraged to nominate their best two or three wines.
For a full list of the wines and background notes, go to winecompanion.com.au; here I comment on the most favoured and most controversial wines in each flight. The most admired wines in the first six were the ’09 Martinborough Vineyard (NZ) and ’08 Cristom Jessie Vineyard (Oregon), which nearly everyone thought was French. The most controversial was the ’09 Bay of Fires because of the depth of its colour and flavour. Some felt it was way over the top; others disagreed.
The most preferred wine in the second flight – and for some, myself included, the wine of the night – was the ’08 Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche. It jumped out of the glass at me proclaiming its fragrance, purity, intensity and length; it simply had to be Rousseau, I thought. The ’09 Tapanappa Foggy Hill Vineyard (Fleurieu) was also strongly supported.
The controversial wine was the ’09 Escarpment Kupe from Martinborough, made by the veteran and greatly admired Larry McKenna. The slightly grey/black hue is a sign of high pH, in turn heralding an overripe wine. And so it proved to be. All of which underlines what a temperamental mistress pinot noir is.
2008 Cristom Jessie Vineyard Pinot Noir
Has a very good hue, though not especially deep. The expressive bouquet of red and black cherry aromas, allied with spice in part derived form 17 months in 63% new French oak, changes tack on the palate with its attractive stemmy/foresty whole bunch characters, running through to a long and satisfactory finish. 14% alc; cork
95 points; drink to 2017; $96
2009 Stonier Windmill Vineyard Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir
It takes courage to include one’s own wine in a blind tasting such as this, but not for the first time it paid off. The brilliantly bright and clear colour led into a complex bouquet of red fruits and integrated new oak, then a palate with powerful drive, texture and weight. 13.5% alc; screwcap; www.stoniers.com.au
94 points; drink to 2016; $65
2008 Domaine Armand Rousseau Clos de la Roche Grand Cru
The brightest crimson hue of all 12 wines foretold a very high-toned bouquet that literally leapt from the glass, multi-spices and red fruits just the start. The palate had outstanding drive and intensity, with almost mouth-puckering acidity the first impression, folding back into the fruit on retasting. 13.5% alc; cork
96 points; drink to 2020; $250