2019 Bannockburn Pinot Noir
Region: Geelong, Victoria
Viticulture: Organic
Winemaker Matt Holmes
Established Date: Vineyard planted 1974
Batches of Pinot Noir from their different blocks were fermented with indigenous yeast, 20% whole bunch in final blend. Élevage for 10 months in primarily Troncais hogsheads (25% new) and bottled January 2020.
Lifted red fruits and savoury forest floor on the nose, bright acid and fine tannin on the palate. Immediately enjoyable and versatile with regard to food pairings, this wine will reward medium term ageing in cellar.
Sommelier’s Recommendation Geelong’s best producer for decades thanks to the foresight of Stuart planting his Pinot Noir vines closely together like in Burgundy. The grapes grown in those vineyards are stunning and make gorgeous wines. Bright, crunchy red fruits jump from the glass and earthy, savoury flavours make this wine perfect to match with your favourite duck or pork loin dish.
Stuart Hooper was a successful businessman with a passion for everything about wine. He envisioned creating a vineyard that would produce Australian wine of a quality to emulate the great regions of France.
In the early 1970’s Stuart Hooper selected a plot of land in the Moorabool Valley near the township of Bannockburn. A promising site with the desirable soil composition consistent with quality viticulture and a rich history of premium wine grape production dating back to the 1870’s. The initial plantings were shiraz vines. Before long, more land was acquired, more vines and varieties planted – the story had begun.
We continue to benefit from the foresight shown by Stuart Hooper; in the 1970s and 1980s when the Australian wine industry firmly had Bordeaux as the reference point, Stuart planted Burgundian varieties. Our Serré vineyard is now the site of Australia’s oldest close-planted Pinot Noir vines.
Although Stuart has since passed, Bannockburn Vineyards remains in the Hooper family, with his daughters as custodians to ensure his philosophy is preserved, providing the cornerstone of all that we do at Bannockburn today.
In the winery, Matt Holmes’s approach is to take a step back and allow the healthy, well-balanced fruit flavours to develop into wines with minimal additions and low intervention.