Ashton Hills, Reserve Pinot Noir, Piccadilly Valley

Outstanding dark cherry. Long finish clean and smooth. Drinking at its peak.

Superb, one, drinking at its peak

Superb wine, drinking at its peak. Beautiful length and complexity. Mouth filling fruit dominated by black cherry. No hint of tannins. Long length. Wine should last for a few more years, but drinking at its peak now.

Sharing a bottle this evening. Voluptuous strawberry nose Same on the pallet with complex fruit and tannins combined with the perfect acid balance. Flavours sweetly linger on the pallet for 10 minutes. Either at its peek or still on an upward trajectory .

In 2010 we visited the tasting rooms. The young pinot was gorgeous and drinking well, The estate was more complex, but needed some time and the Reserve did not invite purchase, The bottle he opened tonight was a Reserve that had rewarded my mate's cellaring with all the compliments he offered. As a non-engineer, I was happy to prefer the palate to his palette and the peak to his peek, but the other notes relating this to a Volnay were …

Beautiful bright youthful crimson colour. On nose cherry, cherry liqueur, candy shop. Taste very fruit driven like a cherry blackberry combination. A pastel or jube quality. Hints of warming spices. Some better integration and complexity with time in glass but very fruit dominant and a little simple (and big) for it. Thoroughly pleasant but didn’t live up to expectations in terms of sophistication, complexity and completeness.

This is a great wine. It exemplifies the word 'reserve', which is often loosely thrown on a bottle with little clout. As an advocate for their 'Estate' wine, which is one of my favourite from the Hills, it's great to see this wine develop and improve with age. Black cherries - earthy, with truffles, spice and an intriguing vegetal note, alongside perfectly integrated oak. Proving we (Adelaide Hills) can make age worthy Pinot, it defies its age with an uncanny …

Interesting wine. Not really sure what to think. Certainly not a classic Pinot, almost edging in to dry red territory, but there’s still some cherries red fruits, but lots of savoury, meaty goodness. Just hints of mushroom and earthiness developing. Maybe too young? Feels a bit hot too. Very enjoyable if not a bit unusual.

Frankly, what an awesome wine. Super complex nose with red perfumed fruits and forest floor. gorgeous intensity on the palate. Extremely long finish. Hides its alcohol well. Fairly fully integrated but will certainly last. wish could get my hands on some of this.

Chardonnay and Pinot Tasting : Spice, cherry, flint and briar. Moderate fruit influence on the palate pushing through, with the savoury notes giving it some interest. Even though it is youthful, there is plenty to like here already.

Just like the estate but only richer and more complex and not ready to drink yet, needs another 2-3 years for the oak and fruit to integrate and by then it will be sensational

(tasting@AshtonHills) Raspberry, blue fruit, mandarin orange peel, violets and white pepper - an effortless nose. Concentration of sweet fruits and mushrooms, beautifully balanced acidity, tight tannins. Blue, with more mandarin peel, with tad bitter ash on finish. Much potential ahead!

United Cellars Grand Cru Pinot Noir Tasting & Masterclass Series (Angel and Ash. Corner of Angel Place and Ash Street, Sydney CBD, New South Wales, Australia.) : Medium nose, forest floor, licorice. Medium mouthfeel, white pepper, medium fruit weight, mineral element towards the medium finish. Bass Phillip weight and character. CM of The Wine Front TN 95, tasted 16th June 2014.

Moncur Cellars Pinot Noir (Bistro Moncur, Sydney) : Earthy and muddy, savoury, slight bonfire, autumn laves all over muted ripened berry fruit. On the palate there are medium plus intensity flavours of concentrated but not over ripe red fruit, spice and, especially on the front of the mouth, dense, chewy but fine textured tannic grip. The fruit carries with the spice but this, for me, needs some cellaring. Nice