2024 Xavier Goodridge Avon Pinot Noir

95 pts
Xavier Goodridge's best Pinot to date - no doubt.

Price:
Sale price$65.00
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In stock, ready to ship
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Description

We’ve been following Xavier Goodridge’s wines for years now, and it’s been pretty special to watch him grow into one of the most exciting names in Gippsland. Over the last five or so vintages, his touch has become more assured, the wines more complete – and this 2024 Avon Pinot Noir feels like his best yet.

It comes from a tiny, one-hectare block of MV6 Pinot planted back in 1987 at the Avon vineyard in Maffra. Old vines like these don’t give much, but what they do is packed with character and concentration. Xavier treats the fruit with a light hand – wild ferments, gentle extraction, 10 months in French oak (about a third new) – and it shows.

The result is a Pinot with real presence. Bright red cherries and cranberries lead the way, lifted with florals and spice, before a fine thread of tannin and acidity pulls everything into line. It’s vivid and expressive now, but there’s enough structure to see it age gracefully for years.

We’ve said it before, but Xavier is a winemaker to watch. With this release, he’s hit paydirt.

Tom Kline

Tom Kline

Wine Pilot 95 Points

The Avon Pinot Noir comes from a single hectare of MV6, planted in 1987 at the Avon Vineyard in Maffra, Gippsland. There’s lovely aromatic restraint here – ground nutmeg, ferruginous iodine, cassia bark, and black tea leaf hover above dark cherry, forest floor, and gentle kirsch. With air, a whisper of woody dried herbs and bitter amaro notes emerge, adding intrigue and complexity. The palate is gorgeous – svelte and supple, yet intense and finely detailed, full of textural charm and savoury appeal. Dark cherry, woody spice, blood orange, forest floor, and cassia echo the nose, while firm, grainy tannins provide structure. A piercing line of spearmint-laced acidity drives through the wine’s core, delivering lift, glide, and impressive poise through a long, refined finish. Eminently classy. A fine release.

Mike Bennie

Mike Bennie

The Wine Front 93 Points

Supple and bright pinot noir, lots of red cherry, raspberry liquorice, cinnamon and clove characters, some dried sage leaf, white pepper, pickled jalapeno. It’s got some edge and tang to the palate, shimmies with powdery tannin, a coolness of alpine herb notes, the fruit comes through well too. A lithe wine on the edge, which makes for interest for many, though here it drops off the pace of other 2024 pinot noir releases, just. Still, there’s drinkability here.

The Avon Pinot Noir comes from a single hectare of MV6 Pinot Noir, planted in 1987 at the Avon Vineyard, located in Maffra, Gippsland. . These old vines naturally produce lower yields with smaller bunches, contributing to the wine’s impressive concentration and depth. The fruit was hand-picked into 15kg baskets, with each bunch hand-sorted before being carefully destemmed into fermenters. Fermentation was carried out over 25 days with gentle handling to preserve fruit purity and fine structure. After pressing, the wine was transferred to French oak barriques—30% new—where it matured for 10 months. It was racked in January and bottled in February 2025, capturing the site’s character and vintage expression with clarity and precision.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Light Bodied
Variety Pinot Noir
Country Australia
Region Gippsland
Australian State VIC
Feature High Score
Critic Score 95
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Cork

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