Kooyong Meres Pinot Noir
… but this one comes about as close as I have tasted from Australia. I am constantly trying out New World Pinot Noirs at home as well as at trade fairs, looking for the delicacy and definition that excites me in Burgundy. Oh – and looking for better values too. I find it hard work, as I am burdened with a palate that is very sensitive to alcohol levels, and loves – perhaps even craves – acidity. I mention those things because for anyone more tolerant of alcohol than I seem to be, this would be an absolute gem. The only downside is that it costs pretty much the same as a decent premier cru. Vive le marketing.
Kooyong – Meres Pinot Noir 2005 (Mornington Peninsula, Victoria)
Medium-full ruby, broad paler rim showing a touch pinkish. Lovely full Pinot nose. Juicy and ripe with a very refined oak frame. This is really lovely and classy, spicy and with a touch of game meat – could be a fat Vosne-Romanee. Mouth entry is nice and taut but with juicy cherry fruit right behind. Good acidity and a real sense of compressed energy here. Fat and spicy in style on the mid-palate, but paradoxically seems to lack body. There is a touch of licorice and very refined cherry/damson fruit. Finish is firm, slightly drying, and just a touch hot (i.e. too alcoholic). This has real beauty at the start, but became less convincing on the mid-palate and worrying on the finish. I feel (hope?) it should come good, but that alcohol on the finish is too much for me.
I’ve thought Coldstream Hills was drinkable Auz. example, but again, at the same price as a decent Premier Cru, why bother.
Whilst I appreciate my experience to be limited, no Auz wine has ever hit the spot for me, but ‘lower end’ wines (still the price of a villages burgundy) from NZ have often done so – a combination of their very good acidity and crunchy fruit. Frustratingly, most ‘high-end’ pinots from NZ leave me cold as the are so often soupy and without freshnesss due to their oak treatment…