96 POINTS - OUTSTANDING "Immediately complex with a bouquet of depth and intrigue, softness and floral highlights, there’s personality and prettiness then scents of earth and dried clay minerality, red berry fruits and a fine dried herb quality. There is oak too with a seam of baking spices and savoury complexity framing the core aromas. Delicious on the palate with an abundance of fine needle-point tannins, plenty of acidity and a core of red berry fruit flavours - from mangosteen to plum to cherry. Then, a light leather and tea quality with a fine savoury layer. Well made, youthful, delicious now and will be so through 2033+." Cameron Douglas MS, July 2024.
Winemaker's Notes:
Escaroth Vineyard is a site that truly reflects vintage variation: this year's release simply ticks all the boxes for Pinot Noir fanatics. It has a beguiling, complex perfume that treads both red/blue fruit and an enchanting spice, game and earthy savouriness. The very low-yielding vintage (3.3 t/ha) coupled with the dry-farmed nature of the site has resulted in incredible concentration and intensity.
2021 was the third drought year in a trio (2019 - 2021), all of which demanded the use of whole-bunch to ensure balanced extraction and lifted aromatics. The result is a very complex, savoury Pinot Noir with a structured yet elegant tannin framework. The 2021 Pinot Noir from the Escaroth Vineyard in the Taylor has fruit power and density, velvety pure tannins and a mineral salinity that makes for an incredibly complex and exciting wine. As this wine is bottled without filtration, a small amount of natural sediment may form with time.
