Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir 2016

Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW (Shaw & Smith) purchased the vineyard in 2011after a look-and-see jaunt to Tasmania when they became smitten by Tolpuddle's Coal Valley location and mature vines, planted only to pinot noir and chardonnay. They are fully committed to seeing Tolpuddle Vineyard recognised as one of Australia's great single vineyards.  

"The 2016 Pinot Noir is lovely. Tasmania is capable of a glossy kind of abundance when it comes to Pinot Noir fruit—it's never overt, but it has a plentitude about it. This is the perfect example of that ample, enveloping potential. The good and tempering aspect here is the cage of tannins created by the whole bunch that holds the fruit in place and discourages it from straying off the path. A super wine. So lovely."  Erin Larkin

In barely a decade, Tolpuddle has established itself as one of the country's top producers. It produces wines of blistering precision and finesse which have received rave critical acclaim. They are highly sought-after and are some of the finest examples of chardonnay and pinot noir that can be found anywhere on the Apple Isle.

"If ever a new winery was born with blue blood in its veins, Tolpuddle would have to be it."  James Halliday

"This wine is true to the Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir style: intensely aromatic, balanced with savoury spice notes from whole bunch fermentation, along with purity of varietal expression, fresh acidity  and firm tannins. The 2016 vintage is very perfumed, medium bodied and approachable. The grapes were all hand-picked and fermented as a combination  of whole berries and whole bunches, in open fermenters, with gentle plunging. Will repay careful cellaring for up to 12 years.

All hand-picked fruit is fermented as a combination of 40% whole bunches and the remainder whole berries, in open fermenters, with gentle plunging. The wine is then aged in French barrique for ten months, of which about one third was new. " Tolpuddle 

Expert reviews

"Hand-picked, whole berries and whole bunches open-fermented with gentle plunging. A wine that explains the love at fist sight when the Tolpuddle partners saw the vineyard. It comes flying through the weather of the vintage that trapped others with a highly perfumed red flower bouquet and into a layered palate reflecting the whole bunch/whole berry fermentation, spicy, savoury, foresty notes form a laurel wreath on the fruit, the oak integrated."  James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion - 95 points

"And into the murky depths we travel. That lightness, that insistence, that riot of spice. It puts its cards on the table in take-it-or-leave-it fashion. It’s a wily, wiry wine, smoky and herbal, spun with tannin, fleshed with cranberry and red cherry, long through the finish. There’s a glimpse of jellied sweetness but blink and you miss it – before you know it, ash and dry twig notes have wrestled back control. This is an immensely cellarable style of pinot noir though, equally, it is an openly polarising one. Drink: 2020 - 2026+."  Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 95 points

"The 2016 Pinot Noir is lovely. Tasmania is capable of a glossy kind of abundance when it comes to Pinot Noir fruit—it's never overt, but it has a plentitude about it. This is the perfect example of that ample, enveloping potential. The good and tempering aspect here is the cage of tannins created by the whole bunch that holds the fruit in place and discourages it from straying off the path. A super wine. So lovely. Drink: 2022-2032."  Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate - 94 points

"50% whole-bunch fermentation. Big crop with bigger berries and bigger bunches than usual. Pale garnet. Low-key gentle nose. Lots of energy here! Really racy and refined. Great purity."  Jancis Robinson MW - 17.5/20 points

About the winery

Tolpuddle Vineyard was established in 1988by Bill Casimaty, Gary Crittenden and Tony Jordan and it took its name from the Tolpuddle Martyrs: English convicts transported to Tasmania for forming an agricultural union. The leader of the Martyrs, George Loveless, served some of his sentence working on a property near Richmond, part of which is now Tolpuddle Vineyard. The vineyard is planted with mature Chardonnay and Pinot Noir vines, facing north-east, and sloping gently up from Back Tea Tree Road. The soil is light silica over sandstone and of moderate vigour, ensuring well-balanced vines producing grapes of great flavour and intensity.  

Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW (Shaw & Smith) purchased the vineyard in 2011after a look-and-see jaunt to Tasmania when they became smitten by Tolpuddle's Coal Valley location and mature vines, planted only to pinot noir and chardonnay. They are fully committed to seeing Tolpuddle Vineyard recognised as one of Australia's great single vineyards.  

In barely a decade, Tolpuddle has established itself as one of the country's top producers. It produces wines of blistering precision and finesse which have received rave critical acclaim. They are highly sought-after and are some of the finest examples of chardonnay and pinot noir that can be found anywhere on the Apple Isle.