Savaterre Pinot Noir 2021

Keppell Smith's path into wine began with a chance encounter: tasting the wines of Rick Kinzbrunner at neighbouring Giaconda and Barry Morey at Sorrenberg, he found himself wondering why more people didn't know about Beechworth. Rather than head elsewhere, as originally planned, he managed to talk his way onto a patch of land in the granitic foothills outside town and never left — establishing Savaterre in 1996 at 440 metres elevation, guided by lessons learned working alongside Phillip Jones at the legendary Bass Phillip. True to the close-planted French model he admires, Keppell's vines are set at an unusually high density of 7,500 per hectare, forcing intensity and concentration rather than yield. The Pinot Noir is entirely hand-picked and fermented on indigenous yeasts, with a considered proportion of whole bunches added for aromatic lift and structural nuance, then given gentle extraction to preserve finesse before eighteen months maturing in fine French oak barriques — organic principles govern the vineyard throughout, and the winemaking looks unmistakably to Europe rather than any conventional Australian template.

The result is a Pinot Noir of real depth and quiet power: dark cherry, raspberry, and wild strawberry meet rose petal, spice, and earthy undertones, opening onto a richly textured yet refined palate with savoury herb notes and fine mineral threads. Silky, persistent tannins carry through to a long, seamless finish, and the wine shows both immediate aromatic appeal and genuine potential to develop.