96pts Australian Wine Companion

Tolpuddle has firmly cemented its position at the pointy end of the Tasmanian pinot noir pyramid, consistently producing knockout wines that have become a benchmark for the region. Nothing changes with the 2022 release, which shows wonderful fruit intensity and oodles of pinosity in a graceful package. Lovely pure dark cherry and wild strawberry fruits, cut with exotic spice, charcuterie, roasting game, shiitake broth, amaro herbs, purple floral tones and complex forest floor notes. Textural and elegant yet with an undercurrent of latent power and intensity,a tight tannin frame and a long finish that shows balance and poise. Just wonderful stuff.

96pts Decanter

Planted in 1988, this cool, northeast-facing vineyard (benefiting from being in a rain shadow) was bought in a spur of the moment decision by cousins Martin Shaw and Michael Hill Smith MW (of Shaw & Smith in the Adelaide Hills) in 2011. This is fermented and matured in oak barrels, about 30% new, using a proportion of whole bunch fruit. Anne Krebiehl MW: Darker fruit, peony petal, Ceylon tea. Translucent and peppery, crunchy, fine tannin: a beautifully marginal Pinot. Justin Knock MW: Beguiling nose, maritime notes, fragrant spices, cumin, red fruits, layers of flavour. Everything is here and in balance. Wonderful. Dirceu Vianna Junior MW: Generous, expressive, ripe red and dark fruits and a hint of leafiness and spice. Elegant and combines lots of ripe juicy fruit with savoury complexity.

95pts James Suckling

Very good Tassie pinot. Root spice and earthy forestry notes of dried porcini dashi, autumnal leaves and loganberry, set in relief against a swathe of darker cherry. The spiky whole bunch inclusion is evident across the finish reeling off a whiff of dill and mezcal, yet it is largely buried by the extract and density. This should age very well, as the record at this address attests.

Winemaker Notes

A very strong year for Pinot Noir at Tolpuddle. There is complexity and power, balanced by pure fruit notes and cool season spice. It shows powerful fruit, with ripe red cherry, smoked meat, and olive notes, framed by fine but firm tannins. Great length of flavor. An exciting vintage.

The grapes were all hand-picked and fermented as a combination of
whole berries and whole bunches, in open fermenters, with gentle
pump-overs and plunging. The wine was aged in French oak for ten
months, of which about one third was new.