2021 Brokenwood Indigo Vineyard Pinot Noir

94 POINTS

Nicole Bilson - winepilot.com

I found this wine intensely challenging in all the best ways. It was so beautifully balanced and deliciously moreish that I had to keep pulling myself back into the discipline of writing a tasting note. Aromas of cherry orchard, silky, spicy vanilla custard and just a hint of earth lead into a melange of fruit and spice on the palate. There’s raspberry and rhubarb with deeper sultry notes of rose hip jam. Whole bunch herbaceous characters and toasty oak conjure images of an exotic spice market. Very fine chalky tannins, and punchy red plum acidity make it mouthwateringly drinkable in its youth and also invite cellaring. Astoundingly good with rocket, fennel, peach, burrata and grilled hazelnut salad.

93 POINTS

Ray Jordan - Winepilot.com

This was a vintage that required kid gloves and an almost hand to hand combat with the weather thanks to its pesky rain events. But it’s turned out well. This is sourced from Beechworth in Victoria and has always provided an exceptional source of Pinot Noir. There’s an earthy cherry character on the nose with a touch of vanillin oak. The palate is tight and firm with keen sinewy tannins and a decent lick of oak to hold its line before finishing very long. A wine with structure and poise for cellaring.

93 POINTS

Ken Gargett - WinePilot.com

While Beechworth might have built its reputation on great Chardonnay, there is no question that it also offers some thrilling Pinot Noir. This wine saw a few days cold soaking with 30% whole bunches included in the fermentation, before ten months maturation in French oak. A pale even slightly dull red in colour, though this is hardly uncommon for Pinot. We have briary and brambly notes here and the early impression is that perhaps the percentage of whole bunches might be even higher – if you like that sort of thing, this is for you! Red fruits, undergrowth, dry herbs and bay leaves. Finely crafted, elegant, focused and quite seamless, it also shows silky tannins and a long, lingering finish. Drink over the next five to six years.

93 POINTS

James Suckling

This has aromas of wild berries, sliced mushrooms, cherries, bay leaves, five spice and licorice. Bursting with flavor, with a medium body and sleek, tight tannins. Precise and transparent. Drink or hold. Screw cap.

92 POINTS

Ned Goodwin - Halliday's Wine Companion

A consistently delicious wine, although the pursuit of freshness feels more voracious this vintage: the alcohol lower, the colour a pallid ruby and the confluence of whole-bunch twine and alpine acidity imparting verve, a verdant edge and tannic fibre. Aromas of sandalwood, tamarind, bing cherry, orange zest and strawberry curl around some vanillin oak. The bunch-derived tannins, meandering across the palate and directing the fray to good length.

Huon Hooke - The Real Review

Medium-full red with a good tint of purple; reserved and earthy/savoury, woodsy and smoked-meaty aromas, the palate lean and sinewy with crisp acidity and light tannins. It's a bit short and lacks depth of fruit and richness. A pleasant immediate drinking pinot, but whether it will do much more with time is uncertain.