Pooley Cooinda Vale Pinot Noir / 2023 / 375mL

Description:

The Pooley Cooinda Vale Pinot Noir 2023 is a poised, red-fruited Tasmanian pinot noir from the Coal River Valley, here in a 375mL half bottle. Grown on the Cooinda Vale vineyard at Campania, it carries real concentration without ever feeling heavy.

Aromas run to red cherry, redcurrant and raspberry, with caraway and fennel spice sitting behind the fruit and a faint earthy, forest-floor edge. The palate follows the perfume closely — sweet-sour cherry and red plum, a savoury undertow, and orange citrus and grapefruit pith stretching the finish out.

Fifteen per cent whole bunch and eleven months in French oak, thirty per cent of it new, give the wine fine spice and a subtle grip that frames rather than obscures the fruit. The 2023 season was shaped by a wet, windy flowering — 230mm of rain across October to December cut yields sharply — before a drier, milder summer allowed slow, even ripening, and the wine shows that in its clarity and well-pitched acidity.

Serve with duck breast, roast quail, mushroom risotto or a plate of charcuterie. The half bottle suits a table for two, a solo Sunday roast, or anyone wanting serious pinot without committing to a full bottle.

Drinking well now with a decant, and good through to about 2031. Bear in mind a 375mL matures faster than the 750mL, so it will hit its stride earlier.