Look south for secret to great pinot noir

Western Australian winemaking veteran Gavin Berry admits he used to be “pretty dismissive” of those who thought making good pinot noir was difficult.

“You know, people often say it’s a tricky variety to get right, and I didn’t always see that,” the senior winemaker and managing partner at Great Southern’s West Cape Howe tells us. “We used to plant a bit of pinot around the place at home as a hobby and we seemed to go OK without knowing much.”

But nowadays, after spending much of the past decade getting serious about perfecting pinot, he has wised up.

“Pinot noir is fickle,’’ Berry says. “It doesn’t like too much heat, or too much dry or too much wet. The grapes are thin-skinned – unlike most of us winemakers.’’

But his pinot project at West Cape Howe in WA’s southern reaches has been well worth the effort, yielding what leading WA wine critic Ray Jordan describes as “deliciously appealing” wines.

The West Cape Howe Langton Vineyard Great Southern Pinot Noir 2023 leads  The Australian Wine Club’s special pinot noir deal this week – a mixed dozen that pulls together nicely priced examples from the Yarra Valley, the Adelaide Hills and New Zealand’s Marlborough, as well as Berry’s pitch-perfect creation from a single vineyard at Mount Barker.

“I love the challenge of growing it and making it, and I love drinking it,’’ says Berry, who along with viticulturalist Rob Quenby has built West Cape Howe into one of WA’s leading wineries, recognised in the Halliday Wine Companion with the highest rating of five red stars.

The story behind the Langton Vineyard pinot noir sums up the risks and rewards of playing with this beguiling variety

Berry, Quenby and two wine-loving accountants, Ian Crockett and Rinze Brandsma, set up West Cape Howe in 1997 and later invested more deeply by purchasing the Goundrey Winery at Mount Barker from wine giant Constellation Brands.

The asset included the surrounding 100ha Langton vineyard, a treasure that contains some of the oldest cabernet plantings in WA, along with shiraz, riesling, sauvignon blanc, chardonnay and semillon.

While quickly winning plaudits for their wines, Berry and Quenby found that one particular patch of the vineyard was struggling to produce consistent cabernet. “We could never get it to ripen much,” Berry says.

This 4ha section of the vineyard faces south, with vines growing in deep, gravelly loam soil next to a river.

“You go and stand up on the ridge there in the afternoon and it will be howling with a sea breeze off the ocean. So even in summer, when you’re having hot days of 30 degrees and more, you get these cool afternoons and evenings.”

While this cooling effect isn’t great for cabernet, which needs a good blast of heat to fully ripen, Berry suspected this patch of the vineyard could be ideal for pinot.

Pinot likes to cool down while ripening during summer. “When it’s just hot and dry, the grapes shrivel and pucker up, and they don’t ripen correctly. You have sugar and acid but unripe flavours. You get wine that’s hard to drink,’’ says Berry, who has made wine in Great Southern for more than 30 years.

So using that logic and understanding, Berry and Quenby “pulled out the chainsaw” about eight years ago and chopped the cabernet vines in that section of the vineyard down to their roots and grafted on five different pinot clones, including MV6, 115 and 114.

The results across recent vintages have been outstanding. “I don’t want to be accused of being a Francophile by going on about terroir but you do need the right sites to make good pinot and here, for us, that means south facing vineyards,” Berry says.

His ultimate goal with pinot noir is to create wines that show fruit ripeness but are well structured to create a flavour profile that lingers on in the mouth with tannins and natural acid in balance.

“We don’t want simple fruit bombs,’’ he says.

West Cape Howe Langton Vineyard Great Southern Pinot Noir 2023

Dangerously captivating. Lifted scents of strawberries, raspberries and dark cherries, with hints of vanilla, black tea and rosemary. Plush palate brimming with concentrated fruit, well-integrated tannins and a lovely acid line that lingers on. 93 points, Ray Jordan.

14.5% alc; RRP $36.

SPECIALS $32.99 in any dozen; $28.99 in pinot noir deal.

Corryton Burge Adelaide Hills Pinot Noir 2023

From the Barossa’s Burge family. Ripe cherries, raspberries, toffee apple and hints of vanilla rise from the glass. Fresh, fruit-driven palate, with a touch of smoked meats adding complexity. Medium-bodied. Soft tannins and fresh acidity keep it all perfectly balanced. 13% alc; RRP $28.

SPECIALS $25.99 in any dozen; $28.99 in pinot noir deal.

Terra Felix Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2018

Seven years into its life, this pinot shows layers of complexity, ranging from dried red fruits to Christmas spice, leather, savoury herbs, black tea, a hint of barnyard and some tarry notes. Blackberry and red cherry flavours still lively on the palate, along with pepper and smoky oak characters. Pinot to ponder with. 13.3% alc; RRP $40.

SPECIALS $36.99 in any dozen; $28.99 in pinot noir deal.

Hunter’s Pinot Noir 2023

Leafy, earthy aromas on arrival, with a hint of plum, coffee, mushroom and bell pepper. Palate moves on with intense cherry and raspberry flavours. Tannins are structural but balanced. Mushroom risotto wouldn’t be out of place. Gold at the Marlborough Wine Show. 13% alc; RRP $35.

SPECIALS $28.99 in pinot noir deal.

PINOT NOIR DOZEN Three bottles of each wine above for $28.99 a bottle. SAVE $69.