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96 pts Halliday Wine Companion  A cooler vintage for Tolpuddle with some hen and chicken and lighter bunches due to a wetter-than-normal spring, before excellent ripening conditions for the remainder of the growing season. When compared to the '22 release there is a little more concentration on display. Vibrant, magenta-splashed ruby in the glass with aromas of dark cherry, plum and blackberry fruits with hints of crushed herbs, softly spoken vanillin oak, raspberry coulis, charcuterie board, purple flowers, bay leaf and stone. Rich and flowy with spice, herbal and floral tendrils weaving through the pure base layers of dark fruits. Textural and harmonious with finely crushed riverstone tannins and mineral line providing support and cadence. Another cracking release from Tolpuddle.

96 pts Wine Advocate This wine was recently shown by a respected Clare Valley winemaker at an options game, and it looked superb. It's so clearly like Tasmanian Pinot Noir fruit but powerful, balanced and sapid in its execution of flavor delivery. It's saturated, in fact. When it was revealed as being the Tolpuddle 2023 Pinot Noir, there were cries around the room of "of course!" and "wow!" To me on that evening, I was particularly impressed by the integration of the whole-bunch component, as I occasionally feel that the use of bunches in this wine can border on overt. In this 2023 iteration, it is clearly evident, but it sits within the confines of the pomegranate/cherry/raspberry fruit with aplomb. Providing further depth of character, a backdrop of star anise, blood orange, coffee grounds, lilac and red apples drive across the palate. This is an enduring wine of sophistication and long-term aesthetic value. 13.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.


Abv: 13.5%
Acidity: 5/g/L (pH: 3.66)
Soils: Light Silica over Sandstone
Vineyard: Guyot trained VSP, densely planted 1/1.5k vines/acre, Northeastern exposition first planted in1988
First vintage of this wine: 2012
Winemaking:  All hand-picked fruit is fermented as a combination of whole berries and whole bunches, in open wooden and stainless fermenters, with gentle plunging. Aged for 10 months in French oak, of which about one third was new. 225/500L new to 3 years used barrels.
Growing Season: Our coolest season on record. Slightly unsettled flowering thanks to a wetter than average spring resulted in mild ‘Hen and Chicken’, giving a combination of small and normal sized berries, and much lighter bunches than normal. Low yields benefitted from drier conditions for the remainder of the ripening period, ensuring fruit was harvested in pristine condition. Will repay careful cellaring for up to 12 years.