2008 Vintage
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2011
Wedgetail Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2008
Bright and clear color; a lively and elegant wine, the bouquet fragrant, the palate delivering finely tuned texture and spicy structure to the black cherry fruit and spicy tannins. Diam. 13.5% alc. Rating 94 To 2015
www.winefront.com.au – March 2010
By Gary Walsh
Wedgetail Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2008
Red cherry, strawberry, some woody vanilla oak, aniseed – all fragrant and delightful. It’s light to medium bodied and lively with tight acidity, fine tannin, and a strident sense of purpose, not least a finish that’s both expansive and long. Many boxes ticked along the way, and there’s a little spice in there too. It’s an energetic wine that carries you along with its enthusiasm and zest. Excellent.
Rated : 95 Points
2006 Vintage
Courier Mail – Q Weekend October 25-26 2008
By Ken Gargett
Wedgetail Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2006
From the Yarra, this has lots of Asian spices and fungal notes, with a terrific supple texture. Well balanced with excellent length (94/100)
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2009
2006 Reserve Pinot Noir
The flavours move towards plum from the cherry of the varietal; lots of structure and depth; cellar this and drinnk the other. Diam Rating 94 Drink to 2015
2004 Vintage
James Halliday – Australian Wine Companion 2007
2004 Reserve Pinot Noir
A classic example of how the colour (in this instance light) is no guide to the quality of pinot (in this instance long, intense and stylish) cherry, plum and fine spice, the oak a pure support role. Diam. Rating 93. Drink 2010.
Sydney Morning Herald – Good Living 13 February, 2007
By Huon Hooke
Wedgetail Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2004
The regular Wedgetail Estate ‘04 pinot ($42) is beaut, but this is a cut above: more concentrated and powerful, with a core of sweet black-cherry fruit
and some savoury forest-like overtones. There are mint and vanilla aromas too; and the acidity keeps the wine alive without being assertive. It has a lick of tannin and more structure than is usually seen in the Yarra Valley pinot. It should age well: drink now to 2012. North Sydney Cellars is a stockist 95/100
Food: grilled lamb cutlets,, confit or roasted duck; grilled marinated quail, roast guinea fowl or pigeon with beetroot.
2000 Vintage
Winewise – Volume 17 Number 6, February 2002
By Len Sorbello
2000 Reserve Pinot Noir
Fuller, richer, more complex than the estate wine with spicy, rose garden aromas and cedary oak, this is a wine that demands attention. Quite substantial on the palate with great extract but without any harsh tannins, balanced by fresh acidity and some spicy oak on the finish. A very satisfying wine of some finesse with the prospect of greater complexity from further bottle age.
Highly recommended.
Wine Companion for Australia & New Zealand – 2002 Edition
By James Halliday
2000 Reserve Pinot Noir
Medium to full red-purple, darker in turn than the varietal. There are riper, darker fruit aromas, with forest and plum, and a touch of new oak evident. The palate has more concentration and complexity to the flavour, with ripe plummy fruit, and good tannins. Rating 94 points. Best Drinking: 2002-2007. Best Vintages: 1999. Drink with: Squab.
1999 Vintage
Wedgetail Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 1999 – February 21, 2001
By James Halliday
1999 Reserve Pinot Noir
“The word ‘Reserve’ is arguably the most misused term on all in winery propaganda and label hyperbole. The problem is, there is no way of establishing objective criteria for its use, and its meaning (or lack of meaning) can often only be assessed against the general reputation of the producer. In my view, it ought to be a wine produced from grapes identified in the vineyard before harvest as being of superior quality; which has then been given Rolls Royce treatment throughout the fermentation and maturation phase; and which meets the standards which the winemaker has set once it is bottled. In other words, the final test is the quality of the wine, and, just because it was given extra care, attention, new oak, etc, does not automatically guarantee its ultimate emergence as a Reserve wine.
It also adds very significantly to the credibility of the Reserve it there is at least one wine produced at a lower price, and that there is a clear difference between the character, style and quality of the varietal release, and that of the Reserve. One of the most perfect examples I have ever encountered is that of a relatively new Yarra Valley winery, Wedgetail Estate, with its current release of three Pinot Noirs from the 1999 vintage. And before I go further, I should say that the fare northern side of the Yarra Valley around Diamond Valley, Kangaroo Ground and Cottles Bridge had a far, far better 1999 vintage than the rest of the valley. Indeed, David Lance of Diamond Valley rates it as one of the best ever.”
Tasting Notes Wine Pros, February 2001
By James Halliday
1999 Wedgetail Estate Reserve Pinot Noir
Medium to full red-purple, darker in turn than the varietal. There are riper, darker fruit aromas, with forest and plum, and a touch of new oak evident. The palate has more concentration and complexity to the flavour, with ripe plummy fruit, and good tannins. 94 points.
