Jan de Weerd

9.3

Concentrated, spicy, intense. Charles’s Smith style! — 3 months ago

with Tammy and

Freddy R. Troya

9.3

Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir 2023
Coal River Valley, Tasmania, Australia 🇦🇺

Overview
A thrilling first encounter with Tasmanian Pinot Noir, vivid, ultra-fresh, and beautifully lifted. This cool-climate expression leans into precision and energy rather than weight, delivering juicy purity without drifting into jamminess. Lightly chilled, it absolutely sang in the glass, showing how Tasmania is quietly carving out a serious identity for elegant, high-definition Pinot Noir.

Aromas & Flavors
Bright dark cherry, cola spice, and fresh red-black berry fruit lead the aromatics, layered with subtle floral lift and a hint of forest freshness. On the palate, juicy cherry, cranberry skin, and gentle baking spice glide effortlessly, keeping everything lively, transparent, and beautifully balanced without heaviness.

Mouthfeel
Light to medium-bodied with vibrant acidity and silky, flowing texture. Energetic, refreshing, and wonderfully agile, the wine literally dances across the palate, especially when served slightly chilled.

Food Pairings
Roast chicken or duck with herbs. Grilled salmon or tuna. Mushroom risotto or lentil dishes. Charcuterie boards with soft cheeses. Asian-inspired dishes with light soy or ginger notes.

Verdict
A joyful, eye-opening Pinot Noir that delivers freshness, precision, and pure drinkability. Not jammy, not heavy, just beautifully expressive cool-climate Pinot with real personality. A reminder that Tasmania deserves serious attention on the global Pinot stage.

Did You Know?
Coal River Valley is one of Tasmania’s coolest and driest wine regions, benefiting from long daylight hours, cool nights, and maritime influence, ideal conditions for preserving acidity, aromatics, and finesse in Pinot Noir. Commercial vineyard plantings here only began in the late 1980s, making it a young but rapidly rising region.

🍷 Personal Pick
This was pure discovery joy for me, lightly chilled, insanely fresh, and dangerously easy to love. Exactly the kind of wine that makes you rethink what Pinot can be outside the usual Burgundy and Oregon lanes. — 5 months ago

Ceccherini Cristiano

9.4

Recommended by my friend David at the Ferry Rd shop.
Never heard of this or the Decades either.
Great example of why they have started to talk so highly about Tasmanian Pinot Noir.
Wild fermented, partly whole bunch and minimal sulphites added.
Definitely not as powerful as a pinot from Central Otago, but more subtle. Very focused too.
A bit more like a Volnay let me dare
Not cheap, but worth every cents
$67 on the shelf.
I would love to show these wines in Italy to my friends that honestly have no chance to know it.
Don't grab just one bottle like i did... — a year ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

Very identifiable as Tasmanian Pinot - this one from the Coal River and the high performing Pooley Wines. Last tasting note here was way back 153 weeks ago. Red fruited - drinking this early in its drinking window. Light to medium weight - lovely Tassie purity. Fine tannins. — 3 years ago

Frank Kuo

9.4

Color of tea. Nose of smoke, peat, sweet dates, spicy and strong alcohol, and more coal like peat. The nose is powerful. Taste is another hit of smoky peat. First sip is dry, however the sweetness surfaces later. Hidden note of marginal sweet apple. Aftertaste shows some baked apple and more smoky peat note. Clean, powerful, straightforward, and tasty. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.5

My last bottle unfortunately. See previous notes from 74 weeks ago and 130 weeks ago. Mid yellow in colour. Obvious parrafin/kerosene on the nose. On the palate ripe grapefruit, nectarine and a little chalkiness. Only 10.2%ABV but not overly sweet. Low acid. Drinking at its peak. Riesling in Tasmania is excellent and flies under the radar to an extent. — 5 years ago

Big Wave Dave

9.2

Flamsheed’s new project. Lots of whole bunch in this. Very vegetal on the nose and then rhubarb and red/dark fruit profile with some reductive notes. Quite muscular and structured for a Coal River wine. Excellent concentration with good length. Vegetal character dominates but not out of balance. — 3 months ago

Shuhui Ng

9.3

Sweet medium bodied Chardonnay from coal valley Tasmania. Nose of peach, honey, bitumen… Acidic body, mineral, clay — 4 months ago

Tom Garland

9.5

Mondavi wine dinner with:
Carlo Mondavi of RAEN
Tim Mondavi of Continuum
Chiara Mondavi of Sentium

WINES
2022 Sentium sav blanc
2018 RAEN Charles Ranch chard
2023 RAEN lady Marjorie chard
2015 RAEN homefield pinot
2023 RAEN seafield pinot
2014 RAEN Bodega pinot
2023 RAEN Bodega pinot
1991 Robert Mondavi reserve cab..YUM!!!
1980 Opus One  (2nd vintage!!!!!!)
2013 Continuum cab
2022 Continuum cab
1968 Madeira, Portugal Boal

FOOD
Sea scallop
Lobster thermidor with wild fennel
Liberty duck
Fresh shelling beans..baked beans in a can for the Mondavi reserve and Opus. Fun
Coal roasted A5 wagyu beef
Medjool date — 8 months ago

with Brenda

Bob McDonald

9.1

Mid Ruby in colour. Autumnal notes. Sous Bois. Nice sweet succulent red fruits. Supple gentle tannins. An accredited well known producer from the proven Pinot Noir district of the Coal River Valley in Tasmania. Will be drinking well right through to the end of this decade. Next bottle in 2 or 3 more years. — 2 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.3

Aromas of red and black fruits, violets and mulchy Sous Bois. Coal River Valley - close to the Vosne Romanee of Tasmania IMO. Sweet, savoury and intense - more raspberry and black cherry than beetroot. Easy to like - see previous note about a year ago. Had another bottle 20 weeks later on 11th November 2023 with similar tasting notes. Had my last bottle in late December 2024 with consistent notes. An excellent Tasmanian Pinot Noir. — 3 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

When in Rome do as the Romans. Currently on Bruny Island south of Hobart and enjoying the local bounty like Oysters and Fish and this lovely Pinot Noir from Pooley who are in the Coal River district. Lovely aromatics of dried red and black cherry with a whole bunch influence. A light to medium weight palate. — 4 years ago

John Hagood

9.3

From Laura’s Ets Martin order — had 2015 on 10/30/2021. Very dark ruby. Extremely full buoyant bouquet. Cedar, coal, leather, licorice; secondary cherry and oak. Tannin only mid-palate and light. Jammy finish. Laura’s favorite. — 5 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.2

If Delectable accepts this note I will edit and do a more comprehensive note. A beautiful Coal River Pinot which ticks all the boxes. Aromatics of sweet red fruits, (cherry). Turkish Delight and various mixed spices. Winner of Australia’s Best Pinot Noir for 2022. Made by the renowned Anna Pooley and Professor David Kilpatrick. — 3 months ago

Jason Sliwa

9.1

Bright fruit and racy acidity. Others on Delectable apparently love it, but I think it’s just good. — 5 months ago

Bob McDonald

9.4

The colour is becoming more tawny since my last tasting in 2023. Lovely aromatics of red fruits and Sous Bois. Manages to combine the characteristics of both Tasmania’s Coal River Valley Pinot Noir and Steve Flamsteed’s excellent winemaking (ex Giant Steps Yarra Valley). I have previous Delectable notes on this wine. Sweet red cherry. Fleshy and supple. This wine scooped the pool at the 2019 Royal Queensland Wine Awards winning Best Pinot Noir of Show; Best Red Table Wine; Best Single Vineyard Red and Grand Champion Wine of Show. Since the acquisition of Giant Steps by the Jackson Family I’m not sure that the Nocton Vineyard is still made? Postscript: Research on line indicates that no vintage of Nocton was made after this one in 2018. — 8 months ago

Aravind A

9.3

A wee babe, but our favorite wine from the Giant Steps tasting. Had a lot of eye-opening Tasmanian PN on this last trip, but this is gorgeous. Reminds me a bit of Russian River Valley PN with the fruit density, but without any concomitant heat; maybe lighter styled Santa Ynez body, but seemingly added whole cluster for complexity. Stretching for comparisons, but evidently its own thing. Lovely. — 2 years ago

Romain Fitoussi

8.9

Light ruby dress. Red fruits, cranberry, cherry. Alcohol 12 abv. Slightly smoked, mineral, undergrowth, coal. Sweet spices, cloves, black cardamom, cola. A PN that transcribes with purity and simplicity an altitude terroir with chalky basements expressing itself here in the form of a lively and sharp acidity with many facets, recalling in some aspects the Pinots-Noirs of Alsace. Simple, sincere, nuanced profile type "old world" very good quality/price ratio. To drink a little refreshed.

Robe rubis légère. Fruits rouges, canneberge, cerise. Alcool 12o. Légèrement fumé, minéral, sous-bois, charbon. Épices douces, girofle, cardamome noire, cola. Un PN qui transcrit avec pureté et simplicité un terroir d’altitude aux sous-sols crayeux s’exprimant ici sous la forme d’une acidité vive et tranchante aux multiples facettes, rappelant par certains aspects les Pinots-Noirs d’Alsace. Simple, sincère, profil nuancé type “ancien monde” très bon rapport qualité/prix. À boire un peu rafraîchi. — 4 years ago

Bob McDonald

9.0

A buttery style but not overdone. From the over performing Coal River in Tasmania. Currently fruit flavours are subdued but it is very young and will develop. Went well with 6 “delectable “ Cape Bruny oysters grown nearby for an average of 18 months in some of the cleanest waters on the planet. The glass of the Frogmore Chardonnay was too young and was dominated by the fabulous oysters. — 4 years ago

Matté

Manager The Wine Cellars

9.2

N - Refined, Smokey blackcurrant & black cherry fruit, graphite, coal, decaying violets, warm, stoney soil, blood and sweet meats. Beautiful.
P - Wonderfully refined, buffered cocoa powder tannins, refreshing black fruit. Fucking delicious. — 5 years ago