Community Tasting Notes 13

• lightning wrote: 92 points

  April 7, 2023 - Elegant, silky textured, juicy red fruit spectrum with a slight dry herb twist. Persistent, refreshing and balanced acidity, wonderful.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• Rote Kappelle Likes this wine: 93 points

  March 27, 2023 - I had a very happy relationship with Curly (unlike General Custer) until this vintage. Previously I had only had older years and had loved the combination of power with elegance, the smooth mouthfeel that then somehow finished with perfect grip and the memories the wine evoked. I was excited to buy the 2015 vintage on release - a fine year throughout Oz. It arrived just in advance of a dinner I was hosting and I added it to the wine list. However, it was not good on the night, not good at all. There was an annoying smoky note that dominated proceedings, the tannins were prominent and not enjoyable and the wine seemed angular and, dare I say it, almost short. I bought no more Curly Flat from then on.
  
  Yesterday was grey, wet and sung the siren song 'drink wine'. I had pate and so Pinto was the order of the day. My hand hovered over some Premier and Grand Cru Red Burgundy, but the moment didn't feel quite right. Then I saw Curly. Perfect. "If it remains disappointing, I will go to the Burg, if it is ok then it is good weekday drinking", I thought to myself.
  
  Before I could say "Hairy Moccasin" or "Little Big Horn" or even "Stormy Daniels, I summon thee", the cap was unscrewed and the wine gurgling happily into glass.
  
  In the glass, a luminescent ruby, clear and bright but it is the wonderful aroma that comes swarming out that arrests my attention. The line "Herr General Malkovitch my nipples are erect" came to mind. Horn tucker time!
  
  There is a really sensual strawberry aroma, some kirsch (but not kirche or kuche), leafy naughtiness but not nasties, raspberry, some cedar and jube. The palate delivers with a velvety mouthfeel and just the right amount of grip on the finish. Medium weight, medium intensity and good length.
  
  How nice it is to have one's faith restored (kirche after all?). This is a fraction of the price of Burgundy and really delivers. I am not a fan of the idea that wine from one place can be a substitute for another place, nor of the idea that one may be 'better'. I have had so much Burgundy drivel, including Premier and Grand Crus, but I have also had some heavenly stuff. I prefer to take each place for what it is. What I can say is that the best Pinot from outside Burgundy can provide great pleasure, equal to but not the same as Burgundy. However, if PQR is a factor (and there have been times in my life when it has been and doubtless there will be times in the future too), wines like this give complexity, light and shade, power and grace that come at a fraction of the P and damn near all the Q.
  
  The lesson here really is that Curly, like the Crow scout, gets better with age. Curly is a survivor, so give him time to grow after you buy. If you do, you will have, like the Crow warrior, integrity and joy. Opened too young and you will resemble the unfairly maligned Reno and the wine Bloody Knife. Don't go into that tree line. Time to play some Robbie Robertson. I still think Custer may have died trying to ford the river, his body dragged back, accounting for the loss of command and control and the one-sided casualty count. But we will never really know. The right side won that day, as it did yesterday, when I opened a properly aged bottle of Curly.

  5 people found this helpful Comments (1)

• Andrew67 Likes this wine:

  February 18, 2023 - The fruit is intense but within a medium body frame. Plum and dark cherry with barnyard floor and some herbal notes. Firm, fine tannins hold the backbone. Good length as well. My partner is not convinced, but for me this is top notch pinot.

  2 people found this helpful Comments (1)

• lightning wrote: 92 points

  December 6, 2022 - A wonderfully silky-textured wine. A peppery, dried herb nose with dark cherry notes, the wine flows effortlessly on the palate, a touch below medium-bodied, red-fruited with dried herb and crushed rock, the faintest wisp of tannins remain, and an elegant spine of acidity is woven through. Elegant, despite its 14.2% ABV, probably drink at a peak now.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

• AndyDobson93 Likes this wine: 91 points

  June 7, 2021 - Drinking wonderfully at the moment. Soft, crushed red berries and slight undergrowth on the nose, with the palate riding along a lovely acid/fruit balance, and a surprisingly bold finish that lasts and lasts.

  1 person found this helpful Comment

Pro Reviews 3

Wine Definition

• Vintage 2015
• Type Red
• Producer Curly Flat
• Varietal Pinot Noir
• Designation n/a
• Vineyard n/a
• Country Australia
• Region Victoria
• SubRegion Port Phillip
• Appellation Macedon Ranges
• UPC Code 012086860218

Community Holdings

• Pending Delivery 6 (1%)
• In Cellars 308 (63%)
• Consumed 176 (36%)

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