2016 Shadowfax Little Hampton Pinot Noir

Shadowfax

Australia / Werribee / Shadowfax

The second Pinot Noir released from the Little Hampton Vineyard, which sits 700 metres up in the Macedon Ranges. Tiny yields - just 1.2 tonnes per hectare - hand picked, destemmed, hand sorted then naturally fermented. 24 days on skins and then into new (40%) and used French hogsheads. Begins bloody, earthy, spicy on the nose with overtones of red-berry fruit and dried red petals, and gets noticeably prettier as it opens up. Great drive and line in the mouth, with raspberry, and cherry fruit and a touch of dried herb. Superbly refreshing finish, crunchy and edgy, with good balance between the fruit, fine-sand tannins and acidity. - Ed Merrison, CellarHand

February, 2018

Campbell Mattinson

The Wine Front

94+ points

Belter of a pinot noir. Lashed with spice, dressed with anise and sweet-sour cherry, laced with woodsmoke, long and sinewy. Intriguing, exciting, silken and just plain enjoyable. It should mature handsomely.

June, 2018

Huon Hooke

Gourmet Traveller WINE

92 points

This light-bodied Pinot is delicate and charming, the texture soft, and the tannins refined. It has attractive foresty touches suggesting whole bunches. The finish is long and delicious.

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About Shadowfax

Shadowfax has taken tremendous strides in recent times, with the team refining the range and proving their prowess with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. Their single-vineyard Chardonnays have taken out Best Chardonnay at the Macedon Ranges Wine Exhibition no fewer than five times. Especially noteworthy have been the Little Hampton Vineyard in Macedon's high-altitude plantings of Pinot Gris, Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, in the chilliest region of Australia’s mainland. These are the vibrant future of Australia’s cool-climate wine scene. The counterpoint to this is the dynamic Minnow project, based around the Werribee vineyard’s southern French varieties. The name is both a reflection of the grapes’ underdog status and a clever play on “Minervois”, a southern French appellation where these kinds of blends are common. It's the source of bright, spicy, textured rosé and reds, with the micro-make Mondeuse immediately becoming a delicious cult hit. With long-serving vineyard manager and assistant winemaker Alister Timms taking the helm in October 2017, these are hugely exciting times for Shadowfax.

About

Shortly after completing this second degree, Alister started working at Shadowfax as Assistant Winemaker, a position he held for three years before moving back home to run his family’s winery, Kilgour Estate. In 2008, Alister returned to Shadowfax to manage the winery’s various vineyards and establish the Little Hampton property in the Macedon Ranges, whilst working as Assistant Winemaker to Matt Harrop. When Matt decided to leave Shadowfax in October 2017, after almost 20 years as winemaker, Alister was the obvious choice as his replacement. “I look forward to building on the foundation that we’ve created over the years and seeing our vineyards reach their full potential, and to follow that through in the winery.”