Place of Changing Winds Between Two Mountains Pinot Noir 2023

A phenomenally individualistic wine and the most emblematic pinot noir that I have had from Place of Changing Winds. There is tension everywhere. Sleek shape and structure, with high toned fruit notes of blueberry, hedge fruits, black and red, with cut flowers Indian spices, sweet and savoury, vanilla and mint. There is a brooding quality, a closedness, and a shroud of smokey, flinty reduction, hinting at ever yet more beauty and grandeur beneath the veil. Seamless and savoury, the fruit sweet and tangy, and fabulous bendy tannins. There is size, energy and thrust here, yet at only 12% alcohol this is a thoroughly gastronomic wine. I absolutely understand why all of the estate’s best parcels were blended to make this wine, and not to syphon them off for more singular bottlings. For me, this is the most backward and elemental pinot noir produced at Place of Changing Winds, and unusually, I genuinely believe that it has been released too early and requires more time in bottle to come together. But time’s on the side of the angels, and this, a classic for future decades. Norris at Waters Wine Co

“Quite brilliant… It’s beautifully aromatic. It’s so floral, it’s fresh. Black cherries, wild strawberries. Really, kind of a little bit of grainy detail as well. Some Asian spices. The mouth feel is beautiful. It’s elegant, it’s fresh, it’s purposeful. There’s a nice sort of linear quality to the fruit but it’s not at all heavy, it’s super elegant. And under that silky, elegant, refined fruit, there’s a bit of substance. There’s some spicy detail. There’s a bit of tannin. There’s good acidity. And this will, I think, age quite well, although it’s so delicious now it’s very hard to resist. Really beautiful wine.”  Jamie Goode (@drjamiegoode)

95 Points – TWF

Place of Changing Winds has produced only one Pinot Noir from 2023. As Rob explains it, the cool, late season meant the style and personality of the Beyond the Forest and High Density parcels fell a whisker short of receiving their own label, so he and Rémi simply created the best blend from the best ferments produced across the three-hectare POCW vineyard (and declassified whatever didn’t make the cut). This strict selection has resulted in a wonderfully perfumed, complex, finely structured Pinot—one of the most seductive this vineyard has produced. There is a core of sweet fruit that belies the cool, late season and speaks more to the low yields, but there is also plenty of Asian spice on the nose and palate, crystalline red fruit, high-toned florals (violet and rose) and a driven finish with plenty of fine structure for aging.

It is a gorgeous drink now if you give it plenty of air in a decanter, but it will certainly cellar well. Bottled in January 2025, whole bunches made up almost a third of the blend (bringing a lot of perfume and spice), and the wine spent 21 months maturing in a range of Stockinger casks (228, 500, 600 and 1,000 litres) and some Wineglobe glass fermenters, with only around 5% new oak.

Alcohol: 12%.  Closure: Diam.

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