Bannockburn Serre Pinot Noir 2023

Certified organic. Serré is Bannockburn’s most iconic and memorable Pinot Noir. The 1.2 hectares of densely planted (9,000 per hectare), low-yielding, own-rooted vines were planted exclusively to the MV6 clone in 1984 and 1986. It is likely Australia’s oldest plot of densely planted Pinot Noir—which goes some way to explaining the striking complexity and intense concentration found in this wine. The naturally low-yielding vines lie in the estate’s signature volcanic, basalt and limestone-rich soils with a north-south orientation. They give the estate’s most powerful, deeply flavoured and long-lived Pinot Noir.

As is usually the case for Matt Holmes’s Serré, the fruit was entirely destemmed before fermenting on skins for 10 days. The wine was pressed to hogsheads (33% new) and then left to mature on lees until February 2024. With head-spinning perfume and alluring savoury spice, Serré 2023 is an instant classic: a Pinot of symphonic precision, layers of fine detail and a finish akin to the rumbling clap of thunder.

95+ points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front