De Bortoli Gulf Station Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2010
"Gulf Station pinot noir has been a star of recent times; as soon as I saw this come in, I ripped the top off it. Tasted this in early February (89 points) but it’s fleshed out over the past few months. It still really needs to be decanted to get anywhere near the best from it – it unfurls given time to breathe. I’m now happy to call it a super release. It tastes of red and black cherries with stewy, macerated flavours serving to knit it all together. Earthen, forest floor notes linger in the background. Tannins are leathery in texture and minerally in flavour. And the aftertaste is impressively lengthy for a wine at this price. There’s nothing particularly – or at all – sweet-fruited about this. It’s savoury and tannic, with full stops of mineral. Time will be kind." 91 Points Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, July 2011
"One of the best value pinot noirs around, this elegant wine belies its price tag, due to both the economies of scale and expertise available at De Bortoli's large Yarra outpost. Cherry, spice and blossom meet the nose, while a silky texture, delicate plummy flavour, and a sustained, fragrant finish mark the palate." 4.5 Stars Ralph Kyte-Powell, The Age, March 2011
Winemaking
A mixture a new clone 777 and the traditional MV6 from our estate property at Dixons Creek and our Abbey vineyard at Tarrawarra, both top sites in the Yarra. The handpicked fruit was then hand sorted and destemmed to 6 tonne open fermenters. Fermentation proceeded naturally with ambient yeast from the vineyard and winery. After 21 days maceration and fermentation, the wine was carefully drained to tank and allowed to rest for 24hrs. The clear wine was then racked to French oak casks for maturation.
The quality arm of the bustling De Bortoli group, run by Leanne De Bortoli and husband Stephen Webber, ex-Lindeman winemaker. The top label (De Bortoli), the second (Gulf Station) and the third label (Windy Peak) offer wines of consistently good quality and excellent value - the complex Chardonnay is of outstanding quality.
A recent addition (the Pinot Noir) to the Gulf Station range of wines, produced entirely from Yarra Valley-grown grapes and using the full range of winemaking techniques including cold maceration before fermentation, the incorporation of whole bunches, hot fermentation temperature and some barrel fermentation. James Halliday
