Squitchy Lane Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2019

How good is to see a Yarra Valley Pinot Noir with some bottle age? It makes for a strong statement about the winemaker’s opinion of the wine, the vintage, not to mention the region. Deep cherry-red hues. Immediately it reveals a Pinot of presence and quality with some sappy freshness and intensity on the bouquet. Black cherry, plum, pomegranate, a whisper of dried flowers and rosehip, violet and musk against a vanillin oak background. The palate offers lovely subtle spice notes, an attractive counterpoint to concentrated strawberry, cherry, briar, herbs and earth flavours. Less sweet fruited than some Yarra Valley Pinots with the suggestion of spiced toasted oak showing through. A wine of substance but also fine-ness that will enjoy more years in the bottle.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic