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!

So! Tamar Ridge was the very first Tasmanian winery we visited on our Big Day of Wine Tasting.  We were staying at the Rosevears vineyard, just outside Launceston, and did a tasting there when we checked in, so technically I guess you could say they were first – but the Rosevears estate is part of Tamar Ridge’s stables, responsible for the Rosevears Estate and Pirie ranges (both very fine ranges, I must add), so I will stick with my original statement. The Tamar Ridge winery is set among the vines of the Kayena Vineyard,

The 2007 Kayena Vineyard Pinot Noir pretty much set the standard against which I evaluated other pinot noirs throughout our stay in Tasmania.  It displayed the strawberry/boysenberry tones that characterise pinot noir, but without letting the palate stray anywhere near sweet, juicy or overpowering: rather, it kept the berry tones in perfect balance with oak and spice. This wine is very restrained, without sacrificing fullness or depth.  There are some fine tannins, but just enough to make them worth commenting on, and the final note is a lingering wood/berry one. I loved this wine pretty hard, and I regret that we could only bring one bottle of it back with us.  Its sophistication and balance is impressive and, frankly, delicious.

On a final note: Tamar Ridge do a damn fine tasting.  You don’t get rushed and you get an excellent commentary on each one, especially in light of the fact that, as a devotee of the holy grape of Shiraz, I needed a little guidance on merlot and gerwurtztraminer.  We were lead through the whole range, both the Kayena Vineyard and Devil’s Corner range, from the first crisp whites through to the merlot blends at the end, and finally ended with a sample of the botryitis.  Now, I don’t mind a botrytis, although it’s never been a passion of mine, but seriously: the Tamar Ridge botrytis is so good, so fine, so light and so splendid that I think I may never be able to enjoy another winery’s.  It’s going to have to be Tamar Ridge or nothing. I guess I can live with that.

The bouquet is fairly light and fruity, but with strong rosewood and cherry notes that give it a firm basis.  This wine is really well-structured, with complex flavours of rose, rhubarb, a little plumminess and a faint hint of cloves and vanilla at the top.  I must admit that all these notes probably give the impression that this is a sweet wine, but nothing could be further from the truth.  There is a great deal of woodiness to the flavours that provide earthy bottom notes, which allows the wine to carry those fragrant flavours without ever straying into sweetness.

Although a little more robust than pinot noir typically can be, that is not to the wine’s detriment.  It’s a fragrant, delicious wine that carries the delicacy of pinot noir with plenty of support.  I think pinot noirs can sometimes drift away, getting watery or, worse, becoming a donut wine (plenty at the top and bottom, but nothing in the middle). Taylors is an excellent winery, and this is definitely an example of some of their finest work.