Main Ridge Old Vine Pinot Noir 2025
- 95
- $100
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Founded in 1975 by Nat and Rosalie White, Main Ridge Estate is now guided by the Sexton family and winemaker James Sexton. Its 50-year-old vines, grown on a protected north-facing ridge in Red Hill, produce small quantities of intensely flavoured fruit — and the 2025 Old Vine Pinot Noir, sourced solely from this estate vineyard, is a fitting showcase of the site’s great strength. This kicks off with lovely plumes of pure raspberry, fresh-cut strawberry, plum and dark cherry seamlessly intermingling with cinnamon quill, orange zest, bergamot tea, white pepper and lavender florality. It deepens with time in the glass, offering up darker, earthier tones. The wine is a touch more brooding on the palate; there’s intensity, density and a ripe core to the fruit — noting a 13.9% ABV. Plum, white pepper, dark cherry, raspberry compote, bitter black tea, dried herbs, blood orange bite. The tannins are ripe, firm and laden with bitter dark chocolate that brings edge and frame through a finish of good length. I’m more about the perfume than the palate, though both are compelling.
Tom Kline is a wine writer, reviewer, presenter, and educator based in Victoria, Australia. He is the Australian correspondent for the internationally respected publications Jasper Morris Inside Burgundy and Jane Anson Inside Bordeaux, where he highlights the top tier of Australian wine for a global audience. Tom also writes for leading outlets including Decanter (UK), Wine Spectator (US), and Halliday Magazine, among others. An experienced wine show judge and WSET educator, he has authored several consumer-focused wine courses aimed at making wine more accessible and engaging. In 2023, Tom was awarded Best Published Feature Article or Wine Column at the prestigious Wine Communicator Awards, presented by Wine Communicators of Australia.
