Hoddles Creek, PSB Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, 2022

Here’s the full tasting note for...

Hoddles Creek, PSB Pinot Noir, Yarra Valley, 2022

The PSB is only released by Franco in top vintages – the last was 2018. From a block next to the 1er Pinot but very close planted – so fewer, smaller bunches and a lower yield per vine. Unlike the 1er, no whole bunches; all are destemmed and fermented in large oak barrels. Bold and generous on the nose; deep colour and intense flavours with subtle tannins. This will keep well. Late 2024-2029

“It’s a darker, more earthy and spicy wine than the 1er, more structure with a distinctly earthy ‘mineral’ character, some pomegranate and a gently sappy side, almost steely and bloody, blood plum and cherry. There’s a dried rose perfume in the mix too. Tannin is graphite and ferrous, and the finish is long, bright and spicy, with some orange peel bitterness. It’s concentrated and powerful, yet still stays frisky and fresh. It’s distinctive and very good. Serious stuff. 95/100. 2024-2035”, Gary Walsh; The Wine Front, October 2023

Here are some of the jewels of our portfolio: winemaker Franco D’Anna’s wines are hugely applauded both in Australia and whenever we send samples to journalists here. All vines are hand pruned and harvested; and all grapes are crushed at the family’s winery, constructed for the 2003 vintage. The family owns ten hectares of Pinot Noir (five clones) and six of Chardonnay, plus Pinot Gris and other reds, situated in the highest and coolest district of the Upper Yarra. Winemaking is determinedly non-interventionist: some whole bunches are put in the tank; all fermented with wild yeasts, without additions of enzymes or acid; and bottled without fining or filtration.

“Fortuitously, in 1960, the D’Anna family had purchased a steeply forested 25ha property which in 1997 they set about planting. Almost overnight, glorious pinot noirs and chardonnays started to flow at prices that were irresistible – and still are.” James Halliday, top Australian wine critic.