Main Ridge Half Acre Pinot Noir 2015
What will happen at Main Ridge?
That’s the question looming large when you pour this Pinot.
Actually, there’s many questions.
Will the Sexton family, who bought the estate in 2015 do ‘the first commercial vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula’ justice? Will the style change? Will it mean more sculptures and a million dollar restaurant cellar door complex? Will it mean increased prices and even more rarefied releases?
At this point, it’s all speculation, but there’s an unease about what will come next when you talk to some local winemakers. And for good reason – Main Ridge is the original Mornington winery, and arguably makes some of the finest wines.
While there is no answer yet about the future, let’s cross to something known – the quality of this superb red.
The magic is not obvious at first. Indeed, it’s a wine that is too young, too immature. Not ready. But with warmth and air, the classicness (yes, I know that’s not a word) arises. And then everything comes up Milhouse.
At heart, this is a ripe wine. A wine that, the more you look, the more affable it seems. There’s that classic blackberry and raspberry Mornington character, with just a waft of mint (that you see in wines from the higher spots of the Peninsula). It’s only a mid-weight release; a juicy wine, with raspberries and black fruit, but there’s something beyond juice. A darker layer that suggests this isn’t a one-trick, low acid, lightly tannic, juicy fruited wine. And that’s the kicker – there’s more than meets the eye, to steal from the Transformers, and indeed the best is yet to come.
But will this still pack in the magic in the non-Nat-White-influenced vintages to come?
Best drinking: Now to 8 years. 18.5/20, 94/100+. 13.5%, $90. Would I buy it? I did and would, but it’s still not a cheap wine.
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