As per usual, tasted next to the Premium from the same vintage.  Lemon oil, citrus and nectarine with lightly spicy creamy oak and seemingly a little volatile - but no problem for me. It has excellent flavour with a light glaze of honey nougat, crisp clean acidity and good length - touch of flint on exit. Not particularly complex (yet) but also not over-made like so many. It’s fluid and very good to drink and certainly less austere than previous vintages.

Rated : 93 Points

Drink : 2010 - 2016

Lemon oil, citrus and nectarine, wheat and spicy creamy oak - seemingly a little volatile but no problem for me. It has excellent flavour with a light glaze of honey nougat, crisp strong acidity and very good length - touch of flint on exit.  It’s built on fruit power, acidity and quality oak rather than winemaker artefact. More generous and well rounded than the 2006 and certainly more approachable, although it should age pretty well too.

I’m not entirely sure what makes it a Village wine i.e. whether it’s young vines or lesser barrels or what not. Anyway, young man, there’s no need to feel down…I said young man..

It’s full of cherry and strawberry with a touch of spice and has a lovely creamy aspect on both the nose and palate. It’s a juicy and supple sort of wine, offering high pleasure in the drinking department, rather than Hillcrest’s usual more acidic ascetic acerbic characteristics. There’s a touch of sappiness on the finish to pull it straight, but gee, I really like drinking this wine. At twenty dollars it represents fabulous value. Genuine Pinot of charm and character.

I’ve had this bottle open since Saturday and right about now (Monday night) it's really showing its charms, whereas the Premium from the same vintage is looking more sullen - seems to have gone backwards.  Luckily I'm just a simple Cabernet man so rarely need concern myself with such weighty and confusing matters ... 

Little bit of VA lift here and plenty of red fruits - mainly raspberry and cherry with spice and some forest floor, oak of cedary nature neatly tucked in.  Medium bodied, quite juicy with light by deceptively grippy tannin and clean acidity - almost feels a little alkaline (although I'm betting the specs make a liar of me).  Excellent flow and length with a suggestion of poached strawberry on the aftertaste.  Should cellar well.

Rated: 92+ Points

Drink: 2012-2017

Premium Pinot Noir

Tasted alongside the Estate over a couple of days, just to make sure those doing the barrel selection have got it right this year. Maybe. Maybe. The lovely JP tells me the Premium has more depth, smoothness and “Pinosity” over the Estate. And who am I to argue?

Has more depth and earthiness than the Estate offering - certainly has more spicy cinnamon oak laid on too. The fruit is a little darker, edging into the dark cherry spectrum although it’s still largely red fruited. Medium bodied, smooth and pliant  - spinning a web of fine tannin as it moves along. The acidity seems better too and the finish a little more sustained. A richer fuller wine with a dab of smokiness on exit. Plenty of potential I suspect.

Only one barrique with half released now and half held back for museum stock - so about 12 dozen available with a limit of two bottles per customer. Why bother you might ask? I’d answer that releasing the very best wine made on your estate is a noble pursuit, rather than blending it away into oblivion.

Perfumed and packed with mixed fruits of the forest (and specifically boysenberry/blueberry/blackberry) with plenty of vanilla/cedar oak and tobacco. It’s medium to full bodied with a latent earthiness masked by bright sweet berry fruit. Some dried herb in the mix too. It has plenty of tannin, freshness, length i.e. the whole package. It’s obviously a very young wine and it was on the third day that it showed its hand - the points ticking upwards each day. Not to be damned with faint praise, I consider this a highwater mark for Australian Merlot.

No 2007 releases for Hillcrest (it is all being kept for museum stock) so we’ve skipped forward a vintage. These are cellaring styles, sold to people who understand the need to cellar, so no big deal…but it makes my job just that little bit harder tasting them a year younger. Inconsiderate bastards.

Superb Imperial purple colour, you might call it a robe even. There’s a fair amount of cedar/French vanilla oak showing as a young wine but the fruit is fully up to the task at hand. It’s just above medium bodied, although it packs plenty of punch for its size, and has particularly lovely tannin - rich and firm but also ripe and loose knit that should stand it in good stead as it ages. The flavours are typical Cabernet - blackcurrant, glimpses of red fruit and a slight earthiness with some tobacco lurking in the background - and of course the liberal oak seasoning is there too, but that will settle. It’s fresh with no obvious pinging acidity - the Achilles heel of many a good red. This is not a wine for now, and the score is largely for later (as best as I can predict).