Bass Phillip - Reserve Pinot Noir - 2016

A power of fruit, a power of oak, powerful tannin and a sustained finish. The back label advises that the wine should be allowed to ‘breathe’ for at least two hours prior to drinking and I wouldn’t argue with that, not least to give the oak time to settle in. This pinot noir tastes of smoky vanilla and cranberry, mineral, spice, red/black cherry and orange rind. It holds you in its gaze. It’s raked with dry, autumnal tannin, leaf matter smattered through. But it’s the glossiness of the oak, and the associated fruit, that really wins and/or carries the load, and the day. It looks for all the world as though it’s going places. Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front - 94 Points