98+ points - "From the Applejack vineyard, planted on grey clay soils at 300m in Gladysdale in '97 by Ray Guerin. 35% whole bunches. A deep, bright plummy red. The perfume when you put your nose in the glass is off the chain! Aromas of wild strawberry, black raspberry, peony, bergamot and Chinese five-spice. Multi-faceted and layered on the medium-bodied palate, with the tannins perfectly interwoven with the fruit. It's incredibly long and will reward cellaring over the next decade or more. Not sure I've tasted a better Applejack Pinot, which is saying something." - Philip Rich (Halliday Wine Companion

96 points - "The Applejack Vineyard at Gladysdale in the Yarra Valley is on an east facing slope. There’s a 100 metre drop from the top of the vineyard to the bottom. There’s also significant clonal diversity in this vineyard. It was planted in 1997 in caramel-clay soils.
Stunning pinot noir. Exceptionally fragrant, dramatically well structured and then just so impressively persistent. It tastes of forest berries and pure red cherry, crushed dry and fresh flowers, an assortment of teas and twiggy herb notes, though it’s that push of fruit that really beguiles. This is top tier gear, no doubting it. The frame of tannin, in a balanced and appropriate way, is next level; it just has that extra push." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

Vintage Notes
Hand-picked, fermented in a combination of small oak fermenters and stainless-steel open vats. One block of MV6 was fermented as whole bunches, while the remaining clones were destemmed to whole berries and cold soaked for four days before wild fermentation. The final blend is 15% whole bunch fermented. All parcels were matured in French oak 15% new, 85% seasoned for ten months in 225L barriques, predominately Taransaud and Dargaud & Jaeglé. The wine was matured in barrique and kept in contact with its lees before blending in December. Bottled by gravity. No fining. No filtration.

Vineyard Notes
Location: Gladysdale Planted: 1997 Elevation: 300 metres Soil type: Grey clay loam over black (basalt) volcanic base Aspect: East facing slopes Size: 12.5 Hectares Applejack Vineyard is one of the Yarra Valley’s most distinctive Pinot Noir sites, set on a dramatic slope in the Upper Yarra and planted by respected viticulturist Ray Guerin in 1997. Its eastern aspect allows the morning sun to gently warm the vines, while the temperate rainforest surrounding the site shelters the vineyard from the heat of the afternoon. The wines often show the characters we love most in Pinot Noir: lifted forest fruits, red berries and mulberry, layered with more complex notes of freshly turned earth, red bean miso, Chinese five spice and XO sauce. On the palate, Applejack delivers intensity and texture, carried by tightly wound tannins and a long, savoury finish.

Winemaking
Hand-picked, fermented in a combination of small oak fermenters and stainless-steel open vats. One block of MV6 was fermented as whole bunches, while the remaining clones were destemmed to whole berries and cold soaked for four days before wild fermentation. The final blend is 15% whole bunch fermented. All parcels were matured in French oak 15% new, 85% seasoned for ten months in 225L barriques, predominately Taransaud and Dargaud & Jaeglé. The wine was matured in barrique and kept in contact with its lees before blending in December. Bottled by gravity. No fining. No filtration.