Tasting Profile
April 2025
This single-block wine is sourced from 0.57 ha of 26-year-old vines on a gentle north-facing slope. These vines are the most exposed of all our Pinot Noir plantings, leading to low vigour and low yields. The combination of the soils (less loamy topsoil and more clay subsoil than the other blocks), exposure and low vigour produce highly aromatic and perfumed red-fruited Pinot Noir with a structure that, as the vines age, is becoming more robust and serious.
This wine was fermented in stainless-steel tanks. The ferment, with a portion of whole bunches (20%), occurred spontaneously with ambient yeasts and was gentled pumped over and plunged over a period of 14 days. Following fermentation, the wine was pressed and racked into French oak barriques (15% of which were new) and underwent indigenous malolactic fermentation. The wine was racked only once, with a total maturation period of 12 months. It was then bottled without fining or filtration.
Fragrant and vibrant, the 2023 Meres opens with a medley of red cherry, raspberry, and crushed strawberry, lifted by a whisper of whole bunch spice. Hints of forest floor, dried twig, and gentle oak toast weave through the aromatics, adding quiet complexity and a sense of finesse.
On the palate, bright red berries take centre stage, supported by a flicker of cherry pip bitterness that adds precision and drive. The tannins are fine and seamlessly integrated, with a subtle herbal edge lending further nuance. A precise line of acidity brings energy and clarity, leading to a long, pure, and finely detailed finish.
While approachable now, this wine will reward careful cellaring over the medium term as it continues to evolve in depth and character.
13.5%
Tasting Profile 2023
Tasting Profile 2021
Tasting Profile 2020
Reviews
Jancisrobinson.com, March 2025
Tamlyn Currin
Fruit from 0.7 ha of the Meres Block, named because of the surrounding bodies of water. Their most exposed block. 100–120 m. Vinified in stainless steel. 20% whole bunch. Morello cherries and masses of strawberries and bit of raspberry and lavender and raspberry-leaf tea. Tannins like licking thyme and like rose petals. Loving the little sour tang and ping here. Tannins so delicate that they feel like strawberry-flower petals. Flooded with raspberries. Tiny note of tiny flowers. Like a little ballet dancer. Like light on water.
17 points
The Real Review, July 2025
Huon Hooke
Light-ish red-purple colour with sweet/sour cherry and briar aromas, smoky charcuterie touches, dried flowers and herbs too, the whole amalgam showing gorgeous complexity. It’s medium bodied and graceful across the tongue, a very elegant pinot with silky tannins and oddles of charm. The lingering aftertaste invites another sip.
95 points
Matthewjukes.com, August 2025
Matthew Jukes
Coming from a tiny 0.7ha block, this is the most exposed single-site wine, and it is impossibly refined, fairy-light, delicate, and rhubarb and red cherry-soaked. It is wistful, balletic, dry and teasing, and I love its refinement and the silhouette it casts on my palate.
18.5 / 20
The Vintage
The Vineyard
The Kooyong vineyard is located on the Mornington Peninsula at Tuerong, on Miocene sedimentary soils. Our wines are made from domain grown, handpicked grapes and aim to manifest terroir: the integration of our geology and soils with the macroclimate of our region, the mesoclimates of the various sites within our vineyard and the weather of the annual grape growing season. Our cultural operations in the vineyard and practices in the winery endeavour to articulate these unique characteristics diligently, respectfully and without artifice.