Budget Wine Week Day 4: Longhop Pinot Gris 2012

Longhop Pinot Gris 2012 (Mt Lofty Ranges, SA)
13%, Screwcap, $16
Source: Sample
www.longhop.com

Like everything that Dominic Torzi makes, this is nothing if not flavoursome and genuine. Real wine indeed.

Produced from Kersbrook/One Tree Hill fruit (which lie on the edge of the Adelaide Hills/Barossa) the reason why this works is all about detail, a constant theme for any well made wine. Here, that means reasonably low yielding, quite mature (15 years old+) vines, careful fruit handling and equally careful craftsmanship, including partial whole bunch pressing, partial wild yeast ferments and the rest fermented slow and cool, the wine then spending several months on lees.

The detail extends to the tasting notes, to the precise residual sugar (6.05g/L if you’re interested) and the utterly honest tasting notes. This is cheap wine, made from an unknown district, yet made with such care and craftsmanship that it really deserves more attention.

What’s even more exciting is the colour. It’s pink. A light, coppery ‘didn’t you know that Pinot Gris grapes are this colour’ pink. A full, peach skin varietal nose beckons too – Full, peach skin varietal Gris nose too – no question marks about variety here! The palate is broad, rounded, full and forward, the sweetness making things even broader and more generous.

Lots of flavour, lowish acid and mouthfeel aplenty this is an awful lot of wine for $16. It’s probably not serious enough for big points but gee it shows how you make good cheap Pinot Gris.

Drink: 2013-2014
Score: 16.8/20 89/100
Would I buy it? On occasions I think I could. A single glass with red curry would be about right.