2016 Wantirna Estate 'Lily' Pinot Noir

Wantirna Estate

Australia / Yarra Valley / Wantirna Estate

On our small 10 acres we have three blocks of Pinot Noir. Each gives us different flavours and composition – one block is fruity; the old original block gives us tannin and structure and the front block develops a spicy character.
In 2016 we decided to try to get just a little more mid-palate weight to the Lily. Not to make a bigger wine, rather a wine with a touch more complexity. So instead of pressing the wine off its skins straight after ferment, we wrapped up the small concrete open fermenter for a few days. We felt that this extended skin maceration would bridge that little gap from the fruit-filled mid-palate to the dry, powdery-tannin finish. Again it’s a small fiddle but one that we are really excited by. The resulting barrel and a half has given the final blend something a little more, and as it's but a small component the wine hasn’t strayed from the Wantirna Estate style.
Other than this variation we’ve kept the winemaking as per normal - open-tank fermentation, hand-plunging with some pumpovers, followed by 10 months ageing in the cool, semi-underground cellar, with just one racking before bottling. - Maryann Egan

October, 2017

Campbell Mattinson

The Wine Front

93+ points

The charm-factor of this 2016 release of Lily Pinot Noir is right up there. Many things are teachable; charm not so much.
A complex nose. A silken palate. An even slide of flavour through the finish. And just enough scaffolding to suggest longevity. This is a 2016 pinot noir made with a gentle hand. A wise wine. Cherries, plums, cream, an assortment of blooms, fennel root, a hint of forest floor. It’s a pretty wine but not in a breezy way; it has its own style, and substance.

April, 2018

Frank Wilden

Business Insider

Cool, suave aromatics of rose and violets; enchanting. This is seriously good. Superbly textured, vibrant attack segues to a sinewy concentrated middle palate chock full of fresh cool red and blue fruits. Strikes the perfectly balance between fruit sweetness and savoury complexities, this finishes so so long and very even. The flavours are extraordinarily persistent. Stunning wine. Premier/Grand cru modern-burgundy quality at a fraction of the price. Bravo and remember Wantirna Estate!

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About Wantirna Estate

Established in 1963 and with an annual production of fewer than 1000 cases in total, Wantirna Estate ranks among the elite of the Yarra Valley. Handcrafted terrior-driven wines are a reflection of meticulous attention to detail in all aspects of viticulture and winemaking, and a vineyard site that is naturally low-yielding. "You don't need too many fingers to count the number of 'cult' wineries of the 1970s and early 1980s that are still in the hands of their original owners. Fewer still are actually performing better today than ever before," as Jeremy Oliver puts it. "Wantirna Estate is one such winery and its modern success is a culmination of experience, the introduction of fresh ideas and a proven ability to learn."

About

Winemaking is a joint effort between Reg and Bertina Egan and their daughter, Maryann Egan.
These days Reg describes himself as the interfering winemaker but back in the early days everything was done by Reg, dashing from his legal practice to the winery to check on the ferments. Today much of the winemaking responsibility has been transferred to Maryann.
Maryann initially did a degree in physical education before taking off backpacking to Europe. When she ran out of money, the natural response was to go and reacquaint herself with the winemakers she’d met in her childhood. After a vintage in Burgundy, she returned to Australia to begin her Oenology studies at Charles Sturt University.
For the next six years Maryann worked at Domaine Chandon making both sparkling and table wines. After the birth of her first child Amelia in 1996, she returned to Wantirna Estate. Along with her commitment to the winery, Maryann has been a wine writer for Gourmet Traveller WINE magazine, wine editor for Donna Hay magazine and a presenter on the SBS series The Wine Lover’s Guide to Australia.
Today, Maryann tries to manage the occasional visit to the vineyards of France with her family – Justin Robison and daughters Amelia and Hannah – as well as the odd trip in search of fresh powder snow.