{cork} [Geoffrey] Deep lemon/gold colour. Heavily cheesy, yeasty nose nose. Very advanced. Still has plenty of acid on the palate, despite the rather flat and simple yellow fruit flavours. Seems a bit too advanced in flavor, even if the other structural elements aren’t too bad. Although it finishes a bit short too. Might be a bit below par somehow; not convincing on this tasting.

{cork, 12.5} [Aaron] Maturing premier cru. Lovely nose of dark plums and black cherry. Subtle oak. Lightish flavours of truffles and plums with a forest-floor, attractive, fungal note. Restrained flavours. Opens in the glass with time and air. Medium dusty tannins.medium weight, dry medium length finish. I suspect close to mature (or peak) as far as flavor goes; seems like it will hold plenty longer though. And also, not American!

{screwcap, 13%, A$30} [Glenn] Seeing a US pinot for this price on these shores would be enough to scare anyone away, but, you know, this isn’t bad. You’d do better for the money with locals or Kiwis but it’s creditable that (chain) Dan Murphy’s make the effort to get this here at all. This was tasted beside the 14 vintage; it was similar with its tobacco-like nose, but had a more floral aspect, although a dirty marginally-ripe dark cherry note undercut it all. It’s light/medium-bodied, a bit hollow in flavor and rather short on the finish. Low dusty tannins, not much oak; but the 14 seemed the better wine on the night.

{screwcap, 13%, A$36} [Stephen] As for the 2013; dark tart fruit and tobacco. This has a bit more pinot gaminess, and less floral fruit than 2013, but the meaty flavours and more even presence on the palate, along with a slightly longer finish made this the pick of them. Low dusty tannins, dry, and light/medium-bodied; it’s an OK wine but not worth seeking out – at least not in this country.

{cork, 14%} [Gordon] Only partly developing just now; dominated by big ripe strawberry flavours, and lots of rich French oak. Like a vanilla/chocolate/strawberry milkshake! Not too sweet, and indeed some meaty aspects to the flavours do emerge amongst the ice-cream-flavour themes. The palate is big; full-bodied by pinot standards. Still fruity, with somedevelopment left; and there’s some real warmth on the palate too. Medium length finish. Something of a bruiser for size, although still fairly crowd-pleasing and perfectly drinkable (if you’re not Burgundian, presumably!)

{cork, 13%, US$55} [Graeme] Tart, gluey nose, with red cherry and liqueur notes. Almost sharp, not unripe though. The palate is quite elegant – light/medium-bodied – easy to drink, and a bit on the simple side. Cool light pinot flavours; cherry, dried cranberry, fairly low-key overall. Low/medium dusty tannins, discreet oak and a taut, slightly abrasive mouthfeel. Just medium length finish. Feels like it needs a lot more time to evolve past its rather tart character. 500 dozen made so not terribly common.

{diam, 13.5%} [Greg] Quite advanced, with smoke and over-ripe strawberry aromas. An oaky character too. Pleasant nose. Palate nicely developed, although it rides a lot of the sweet oak and then sits towards the tip of the tongue. More strawberries and leaves. Oak contributes more flavor than structure. Medium-bodied, with low dusty tannins. OK finish. Fair wine, ready to drink.

{screwcap, 13.5%} [Greg] Spicy tang on the nose. Forest floor aromas. Seductive pinot fruit with rich French oak. Long linear, fine-grained palate, combining subtle oak, medium-heft chalky tannins, impeccable balance, medium weight (tending towards fuller-bodied) and spicy red fruits; all the flavours you want in pinot. Medium/long finish. First class in every way. Should be lovely for the next half-dozen years easily given the great structure and balance.

{screwcap, 13.5%} [Geoffrey] Ancient nose; rotting wood and old carpet. Warm, musty palate. Old furniture smells; a touch stale but in an authentic way. Rich ancient caramel-like flavours. Medium-full bodied. Less sweet than just brandied. Satisfactory but a bit monolithic.