Cornelius Pinot Noir 2007 (Bellarine Peninsula, Vic)
$53, Screwcap, 14.5%
Source:Sample
www.scotchmanshill.com.au

This is one of the top end labels for Bellarine Peninsula stalwart Scotchmans Hill, who seem to have a much quieter profile of late.

Deep ruby in colour and looking rich, the nose shows a fair lick of expensive coconut oak, suggesting that this saw the inside of some expensive french barrels. It’s a nose that carries quite a bit of the strawberry red fruit aromatics that typify good Mornington Pinot, if just a teensy bit stewed. Pretty and Pinoty nonetheless.

The palate to is very pretty, with cherry and spice to complement the strawberries. Lacks some punch through the finish and the oak tannins are a smidgen intrusive, though it’s still an attractively varietal Pinot, a fact which is punctuated by some lovely gamey Pinot characters on the finish.

At it’s core this wine is all Pinot, just reiterating how good the fruit would have been to begin with. Personally I’d like to see it with a fraction less obvious oak, though that may well integrate with further bottle age. Questionable value @$53 perhaps, but good drinking all the same. 17/90