Canterbury Wines Phone 0398305278 or 0403020439 www.canterburywines.net
PINOT NOIR2006 TOMBOY HILL SMYTHES CREEK PINOT NOIR !! $59.95
REGION: BALLARAT, VICTORIA
Tomboy Hill is a tiny vineyard in Ballarat planted in 1984 by former schoolteacher Ian Watson. The vineyard is within viewing distance of the Eureka Rebellion site. The vineyard is planted in the Burgundian mode (1m x 1.2m grid and low-trellised) and is still, by necessity, hand-pruned, hand-sprayed and hand-picked. Ballarat's climatic similarities with Burgundy influence the mode of viticulture and wine-making, with only chardonnay and pinot noir being grown. In addition, fruit is sourced from vineyards owned by small growers in the Ballarat Goldfields district. These are located at Smythe's Creek, Rokewood Junction, Garibaldi Farm, Scotsburn and Coghill's Creek.
Single vineyard wines are produced in years in which the quality is sufficiently high – in 2006 a Smythe's Creek Pinot Noir and a Garibaldi Farm Chardonnay were produced. Tomboy Hill's second label is called "Rebellion". The chardonnay and pinot noir wines under this label are blends from all the vineyards.
A recent tasting of the Tomboy Hill wines from the 2006 vintage was a revelation for me and one of the memorable highlights of the vinous year. The sheer quality of all the wines that come from the tiny plantings of chardonnay and pinot noir blew me away and made me wonder, with global warming an almost certainty, if the Ballarat region will be Australia's answer to Burgundy in the coming years.
"Also (like the Tomboy Hill Rebellion pinot Noir) has elements of spice, mint and stem on the bouquet, but on the equally intense and very long palate the red cherry, strawberry and raspberry fruits are in abundance. 13.3º alc. Drink Now - 2015." James Halliday - 95 points
"Pinot Noir is an exciting area: there are so many good ones, coming principally out of Southern Victoria and Tasmania. Tomboy Hill is building renown for its exciting range of single-vineyard wines sourced from small vineyards around Ballarat but its winemakers Scott Ireland is way undersung. Ireland produces his own wines under the Provenance labels and is a contract winemaker for Tomboy Hill and others. His base is at the Austins winery in Sutherlands Creek in Geelong’s Moorabool Valley. Tomboy Hill’s 06 Smythes Creek is one of the best pinots I’ve tasted this year and is just one of a fascinating range." Huon Hooke, The Sydney Morning Herald
Drink Now to 2020.
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