2024 Bannockburn Olive Tree Hill Pinot Noir
2024 Bannockburn Olive Tree Hill Pinot Noir

2024 Bannockburn Olive Tree Hill Pinot Noir

96 pts
Bannockburn |Geelong |Pinot Noir
The first-ever release from Bannockburn’s original 1976 Pinot vines, made to celebrate the estate’s 50th vintage and showing old-vine depth with classic Bannockburn poise.
Price:
$79.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

Bannockburn’s Olive Tree Hill block is the oldest Pinot planting on the estate, with MV6 vines that went into the ground back in 1976. For years the fruit has quietly fed into other cuvées, but for the winery’s 50th vintage they decided it was time to give this site a stage of its own. The result is the very first release of Olive Tree Hill Pinot Noir - a fitting way to mark such a milestone.

The vines are nearly half a century old now, low-yielding and full of character, and the wine shows it. 2024 delivers a Pinot that’s detailed and expressive - red and dark berries, a savoury thread, that earthy, almost foresty nuance Bannockburn does so well. It’s not a blockbuster, but it doesn’t need to be - there’s quiet power here, woven through with fine tannins and a long, graceful finish.

This debut feels like a proper celebration of place and history, while still being delicious and approachable right now. A bit of heritage in the glass, but still pure Bannockburn.

96+ points
"This is a superb wine with which to celebrate Bannockburn's 50th anniversary vintage."
- Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion)

Campbell Mattinson

Campbell Mattinson

The Wine Front 95 Points

It’s grown on vines planted in 1976, which means that it’s grown on Bannockburn’s oldest vines. 1976 is effectively ancient in Australian pinot noir terms.

There’s polish to this wine, and a meatiness, and savoury inputs aplenty, and a long confident push through the finish. It’s Bannockburn pinot noir to a tee. Red cherry, tonic water, rhubarb, undergrowth and woodsmoke characters run into rust, steel, earth and cedar. There’s a umami aspect to this wine; indeed it runs right through it. Courtesy of this wine’s balance – and long, even flow through the finish – you could easily drink this now. But it will be a more complex delight with some years under its belt.

Olive Tree Hill, planted in 1976, is home to our oldest Pinot Noir vines. With naturally low yields, this site consistently produces deeply coloured, firmly structured wines. Now approaching fifty years of age, these vines offer a rare expression of mature Pinot Noir.

Viticulture

Olive Tree Hill is made from own-rooted MV6 Pinot Noir planted in 1976. As the oldest Pinot Noir vines on the property, this block consistently produces low yields of small, concentrated berries. For almost fifty years, it has delivered Pinot Noir of depth, structure, and now, serious old-vine power.

Winemaking

The fruit was handpicked, completely destemmed, and fermented on skins for 10 days before pressing to French oak hogshead barrels, 40% of which were new. The wine was left undisturbed, went through malolactic fermentation in spring, and was blended and bottled in February.

Tasting Notes

Olive Tree Hill is generous and grounded, showing both the depth of old vines and the concentration of the site. Red and dark fruits sit at the core, with more than a hint of spice and forest floor. The palate is full and rounded, with depth, structure and a calm, settled power. A classic old-vine expression that is confident and complete.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Pinot Noir
Country Australia
Region Geelong
Australian State VIC
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Halliday Wine Companion
Critic Score 96
Alcohol 13.5%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Screw Cap

Bannockburn

For over 50 years, Bannockburn has been a quiet force in Australian fine wine. The story began in 1974 when Stuart Hooper discovered and planted this now-iconic site in Victoria’s Moorabool Valley. In 1978, Gary Farr joined as winemaker, bringing a Burgundian lens that helped define the estate’s identity.

Today, Matt Holmes leads the winemaking, first stepping in for the 2005 vintage and returning permanently in 2015 after Michael Glover’s departure. Holmes’ style is thoughtful and site-first - guided by organics, minimal intervention, and an intuitive feel for balance. His Chardonnays are chiseled and composed. The Pinot Noirs - more precise than ever - are some of Victoria's best.

Viticulturist Lucas Grigsby, a 30-year veteran, tends the vines with the same hands-on, regenerative mindset. Together, they farm sustainably - straw mulching, composting, and nurturing cover crops - all to express the site with absolute clarity.

Bannockburn’s single-vineyard range tells the deeper story. S.R.H. Chardonnay draws tension and salinity from ancient marine sediments. The iconic Serré vineyard, planted densely in 1984, channels a Grand Cru sensibility. These are wines shaped by place, not ego. They hum with Burgundian influence, but speak fluently in an Australian accent.

Winemaker Matt Holmes - Geelong, VIC Bannockburn

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