Jekyll and Hyde.
I can count the number of Australian Pinot Noirs that consistently produce high-quality wines on one hand. There are plenty of reasons, primarily Pinot is a notoriously difficult grape to grow. Add to that Australia has only a few climates that suit the variety. The main reason, for my mind, is that Australia has not really discovered its own identity.
It tries to be Burgundy. It tries to imitate rather than deliver its own personality. Australia does not do it with any other variety. Nowhere can be found an Australian Cabernet in the ‘Bordeaux style’. While Shiraz sometimes tips its hat to Rhône, Australian Shiraz is its own identity. Those few Australian Pinot’s that consistently produce quality, are uniquely Australian, not a Burgundian imposter.
If there is one individual here in Kuala Lumpur that waves the Australian flag, it is Martin. I daresay he drapes the Australian flag over his shoulders and wears it as a cape. Pinot Noir does not escape his gaze and it causes much debate between both of us. Martin kindly delivered this wine for me to try, accompanied by much praise and assurance it held its own next to some Burgundies on a recent tasting night.
Ashton Hills does a lot of things well and even more that strike a chord with me. Hand-printed labels, literally, with a tiny little press rotated by hand. Rubber stamped addresses, dirt floor winemaking facility, the list goes on. I am a sucker for this sort of eccentricity. What it does best is have a micro-climate that suits Pinot Noir.
Unlike Mornington and Yarra, which rely on maritime coolness to achieve the cool climate required for Pinot, the Picadilly Valley is a tiny little paradise of land that is ideal for the variety. While it gets a lot of rain, it remains dry and warm in Spring and Summer, avoiding mildew and other rots. Cooling nights… pinot paradise.
I gave this to Shell blind from a decanter. As an indication of just how ‘pinot’ this Pinot is, or maybe an indication of just how sharp Shell’s tasting is, this was what she said as I walked over with the decanter to pour her wine-
One look at the decanter, I had not even poured the glass, ‘That is Pinot Noir’.
‘Not Barolo or Barbaresco?’ I countered.
‘Nope!’
I poured, she didn’t even swirl her glass, quick smell, ‘Definitely Pinot’.
She gave her glass a swirl, took another long look at the aromas.
‘New world, not old world. Not New Zealand. I don’t know what American Pinot smells like. I am going with Australian, but not Tasmania.’
‘Want some options?’ I asked.
‘Not Yarra, not Mornington. Could be Macedon?’ She asked.
We went back and forward for a while, but for Shell to narrow the wine like that, so fast, without any leading, speaks volumes that this wine is expressing some kind of terroir.
Decanted for an hour and consumed over three.
Light garnet in the glass. Very light. The nose is amazing, strawberry fruit sits very much in the background to a savory, earthy wine. Smoked meats dominate, but do not overwhelm. Roasted coffee beans, mushrooms, and cedar round out a truly complex nose. It keeps inviting you back, promising more. Sadly, we now have to deal with the Jekyll and Hyde reference. The wine has low acid, low tannins. I have never encountered a wine that offered so much on the nose, yet delivered so little on the palate. Strawberries and mushrooms are present, but the wine offers very little weight and texture. An entirely short finish has left me both disappointed and perplexed.
As someone who enjoys the aromas as much as the palate, I persevered with the wine over the course of the evening, constantly returning to that mesmerising nose. Shell is not so patient, after a glass she asked for a Chianti to be opened to have with dinner.
Drink now – 2025.
88 pts.
If a positive is to be found in lockdown, it is food delivery. Some of Kuala Lumpur’s best restaurants are still operating this service. Tonight it is Fuego’s and it is outstanding. A whole chicken, salad, rice, cauliflower, and guacamole with plantain chips. So very good!
