I always find it fascinating when a brand gets a PR agency. While previously it would just be a winemaker reaching out to say ‘want to try my wines?’, now it’s a whole presentation. That’s what happened with these new Steels Gate releases. I felt like stopping the friendly PR person mid-sentence to just say ‘I know Brad & Matthew’s wines, I don’t need your pitch’, which confuses everyone.
On that note, what I do like getting is lots of winemaking notes. Please, send me all the detail. Ferment temperatures, pH, fining regimes. That stuff is so informative and gives a reminder of the myriad processes behind the wine – including endless hours pruning in the cold to the long autumn days cleaning (and constant wet shoes. Or was that just me).
Meanwhile, you don’t need to spend a day plunging ferments to know this Steels Gate Estate Pinot Noir 2019 is a thirst-quenching charmer.
As ever with this Yarra Valley label, the emphasis is on effortless flavours. Sometimes it doesn’t come off, but mostly it does, and the wines are all the brighter for it. This limpid, lower alcohol Pinot is a perfect example, all raspberry fruit with the barest leafy edge. There’s a sense of harmony to the palate that is mouthwatering, the acid fresh and vital, the tannins just enough. Energy and drinkability. Long too. I could drink loads of this.
Steels Gate Estate Pinot Noir 2019. Best drinking: good now and over the next five years. 18.5/20, 94/100. 13.2%, $35. Steels Gate website. Would I buy it? Worth a bottle.
Leave A Reply