We have produced only one Pinot Noir from 2023. This was because when we sampled a blend of all our best parcels (including those that typically produce our Beyond the Forest cuvée), they simply worked best together. The result is a perfumed, complex, and structured Pinot that is also one of the most seductive Pinots we have produced.

There is a core of sweet fruit that belies the cool, late season and speaks more to our low yields, but there is also plenty of Asian spice characters on the nose and palate, crystalline red fruit, high-toned florals (violet and rose) and driven finish with plenty of fine structure for aging. It is a gorgeous drink now if you give it plenty of air in a decanter, but it will certainly cellar well. Bottled in January 2025, whole bunches made up almost a third of the ferments (bringing a lot of perfume and spice), and the wine spent 21 months maturing in a range of Stockinger casks (228, 500, 600 and 1,000 litres) and some Wineglobe (glass fermenters), with only around 5% new oak.

Alcohol: 12%. Closure: Diam. 6449 bottles and only 24 magnums produced.

95 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

The greatest Australian wines I have ever tasted were made by Hunter legend Maurice O’Shea in the 1940s and ’50s. These wines were blends of Syrah and Pinot, and they have inspired this blend, which we make only in suitable years. This release is a blend of 40% Pinot from our own vines, and 60% Syrah from Heathcote and Harcourt. It spent the first year in a mix of large and small oak barrels, mostly neutral, with the last phase of aging in steel tank and 600-litre Stockinger cask. It was bottled at the end of November 2023. The result is a bright, perfumed, juicy wine. Although delicious now, it should certainly age well. Alcohol: 13.5%. Closure: Diam 30.

95 points, Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front
93 points, Mike Bennie, The Wine Front

This wine is now released with an extra year’s aging. It comes from an east-facing plot of 20+-year-old vines rooted in the red Cambrian soils of the Mount Camel Range in Heathcote’s north. Although this sub-region can produce some of Heathcote’s most refined wines, it is still an area that lends itself to growing powerful Syrah, so it gets an additional year in cask. The 2021 spent its first year in a range of Stockinger cask and concrete tank before being blended to one 2,000-litre Stockinger cask for the remainder of its maturation. It was bottled at the end of November 2023 after 33 months’ aging. It is a gorgeous, dark-fruited expression of this famous region. At 13% alcohol, it is in no way heavy and, in fact, is quite the “refreshing” contrast to many wines released from the area. Only around 10% new oak used.

95 points, Jane Faulkner, The Wine Companion

This is the second release from Harcourt. It comes from a very specific plot in Victoria’s Bendigo G.I., on the foothills of Mt Alexander. With its pure granite soils and mild climate, the POCW team believe that Harcourt is one of Australia's most exciting terroirs for Syrah. 50% whole bunches were used, and the wine underwent almost two years’ maturation. The initial period was in older 600- and 1,500-litre Stockinger casks, with the final eight months in 2000-litre Stockinger. It was bottled in late December 2023. It’s a wine that combines lifted perfume and finesse with excellent depth and fine structure.