Review: Sapling Yard Pinot Noir 2023

If there is one thing that Malcolm Burdett & Carla Carla Rodeghiero’s Sapling Yard wines deliver, it is delicacy – these are detailed, slowly unfurling cool climate wines. This Pinot Noir is all Tumbarumba fruit, from the Excelsior Peak vineyard. It feels like Tumby grapes too, with the trademark bright colours, lightness, and then a bony finish. There is such mid-palate juiciness here for the low alcohol, though, just to make this light red enjoyable. I’d like a bit more persistence (more ripeness might be welcome), but prettiness is sky-high.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: over the next five years
• Score (out of 20): 17.5
• Score (out of 100): 91
• Alcohol %: 12.8
• RRP (in $AUD): 38
• Winery website: https://www.saplingyard.com.au/
• Would I buy it?: a glass or two