It is mostly coincidental that I have another Tasmania wine to review.  Bu not entirely: our friend, inspired by our collection of Tas wines, procured a few of his own for us to enjoy over dinner.  I see no reason to apologise, however: Devil’s Corner produces fine drops.  Another pony in the Tamar Ridge stable of wines, the Devil’s Corner vineyard is quite close to the Kayena Vineyard in the Tamar Valley, Tasmania.  I don’t know where it gets the evocative name from, but I like it.

The 2008 Pinot Noir is a beauty; we spent a happy, tipsy ten minutes or so lifting our glasses up to light so we could look at the colour of the wine through the bowls of our glasses.  It has a warm, rosewood colour, leaning ever so slightly to the brownish side of the red spectrum.  The nose has a slightly stronger, sweeter tone than I expected, with very distinct raspberry and nutmeg scents.  At first sip, there is a sudden sharpness that I really didn’t expect, which very swiftly gave way to the classic pinot noir fruits: plum, redcurrants and faint raspberry.  The middle palate has some light wood notes, as well as tones of cardamon and nutmeg, and the final notes echo those spices, subtly underpinned with soft rose flavours.  The tannins are extremely mild, creating a silky mouthfeel.

On the whole, this is a plump and well-rounded wine. That first sharp note on the very tip of the front palate is surprising, but, interestingly, it doesn’t create an imbalanced wine.  Delicious!