Sailor Seeks Horse Pinot Noir 2020

Paul and Gilli Lipscombe left careers in London in 2005, trained in the Languedoc, studied winemaking and viticulture in Margaret River, and gained further experience in New Zealand and Oregon before settling on Tasmania's Huon Valley — the country's southernmost and coolest wine region — convinced that the very edge of viticultural possibility was where the most exciting wines could be made. They found a dilapidated, half-abandoned vineyard at Cradoc, planted in 2005 and left to run wild, and rebuilt it by hand into what's become one of the island's most quietly acclaimed small producers, on a north-facing slope of free-draining, quartz-flecked mudstone over clay. Their philosophy runs on restraint: low yields and balance achieved in the vineyard rather than corrected in the winery, meaning minimal intervention once the fruit arrives — a cold soak, a touch of whole-bunch fermentation (typically around 5%), gentle plunging twice a day, and natural yeast fermentation, tasted daily on skins until the tannin profile feels exactly right before pressing straight to barrel for twelve months.

The result is Pinot Noir of real energy and perfume: wild blueberry and strawberry meet dried flowers, baking spice, and an evocative whiff of olive grove, opening onto a palate that crackles with acidity, bouncy bright fruit, and a distinctive bitters-like bite on the finish. Critics have repeatedly praised its complexity — Halliday's Dave Brookes scored a recent vintage 95 points, describing "a complex whirling dervish of raspberry, bramble, game, roast chestnuts... turned earth and crushed stone" — while Wine Enthusiast called it "ethereal... smashable and serious all at once."