Kyneton Ridge’s $35 Macedon Pinot offers plenty. But the Reserve wine?

Reserve wines are such funny things. What should theoretically be the best wines that any given winery can produce are just more ambitious and less delicious. So often, ‘reserve’ is also a byword for overdone. Look at Italy, where Chianti Riserva is often the oakier, less vibrant version of standard Chianti. Ditto Rioja Gran Reserva, for that matter.

Yes, I’m generalising (and shitloads of Rioja alone disproves my point, hello Rioja Alta), but we’ve all seen the reserve phenomenon in action. And Kyneton Ridge provides today’s example.

This is a new name for me, and there is always room on the Australian Wine and Drinks Review tasting bench for another Macedon Ranges label. It’s a region of greatness (Curly Flat, Bindi, Hanging Rock, Cobaw Ridge etc etc) but with even more room for growth. The Macedon Ranges are far too cold for warm-blooded Sydneysiders like me, but there’s such a treasure trove of vineyards and labels dotting those hills that it’s worth a visit.

As a wine label, Kyneton Ridge has been around since the 1990s, but this feels like a nascent project. Since Angela and Andrew Wood took over in 2019, there have been new winery buildings, expanded plantings, and a sharpened focus on sustainability, all pointing in the right direction.

The Kyneton Ridge Skipping Rabbit Pinot Noir 2023 is very likable too. There is loads of rather ripe glacé cherry fruit here, a lick of vanilla bean oak, and a plump mid-palate. It falls away just a bit on the finish, but the depth of that glacé fruit through the middle is unquestionable. Good, open, Pinoty drinking. 17.7/20, 92/100. 13.7%, $35.

The reserve wine curse strikes again with the Kyneton Ridge Pinot Noir Reserve 2022. The less-fancy wine above is a Macedon Ranges Pinot of joy and fruit, but this moody, top-shelf release feels a bit stretched. Of course, there is only $5 in the price and not much difference in winemaking, but this is clearly the flagship. There’s a red and black cherry fruit notes here and it moves in the right direction yet it comes with a confounding, sweet and sour lightness that suggest that Pinot fruit isn’t quite up to the structure. Maybe I’m hoisting this wine up the flagpole to make a point, but the vibe here is Ambition taking over without the flavpir depth. It’s solid drinking, but the cheaper wine wins. 17/20, 90/100. 13.5%, $40.