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This wine will be reviewed again very soon. |
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Prior to the 2005 vintage, Bill and Sandra went to Burgundy and learnt a new technique which has further improved the texture and structure of the Picardy Pinots. Bill and Dan believe that this is by far the best vintage for Pinot Noir at Picardy to date.The 2005 is a rich full bodied Pinot reminiscent of the 2003 vintage with the structure of the 1999. The nose has enticing cedar, strawberry and mulberry aromas with a hint of new leather and toasted oak. The palate is refined with red currant, cherry, mushroom nuances and a tell-tale lingering savoury finish. This wine is silky smooth while the structure is tight with nicely balanced tannins, ensuring a long cellar life. This would be a fine accompaniment to lamb, veal, poultry or even salmon. This wine has been selected by Qantas for service in Business Class. |
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2004 Picardy I found this is a more delicate Pinot than the previous few vintages, but it has distinctive varietal characteristics in a light fresh package. The nose has enticing cedar, strawberry and mulberry aromas with a hint of new leather and smoky, toasted oak. The palate is refined with red current, cherry, mushroom nuances and a tell-tale lingering savoury finish. Structure is tight with nicely balanced tannins, ensuring good cellar life. This would be a fine accompaniment with poultry or even salmon.
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I had to keep sampling this one, it was that good.Whereas most of the wineries in the state have struggled to consistently produce good Pinot Noir (mainly due to warmth, the wrong terrain and ignorance), the Pannells have hit their straps in attaining a wine of great character and quality. This wine is a sly wink to Burgundy, the home of the world’s greatest Pinots.“Every time I go back to Burgundy I pick up a new technique to try on our wines here,” said Bill. “The Pinot Noir especially has benefited from our visits to France.”That is one serious understatement. With the Picardy vines aging gracefully, the Pannells are well on their way to creating benchmark Australian Pinot. The wine already has the critics’ nod of approval and is now generally accepted as WA’s best, year in year out.This consistency has been primarily due to Bill’s determination to prove that great Pinot can be grown and made in WA. You just need the right conditions, location and secrets. All are personified in this Pinot.The wine is bursting with fleshy varietal fruit flavour, interlaced with earthy and woody nuances. There’s also a touch of leather and the plethora of wonderful aromas that make Pinot just as pleasurable to sip with the nose as the lips! It really is like its top end French counterparts.“Good Pinot is a wine to sit down with, linger over and really appreciate,” said Dan. “It offers the very essence of great wine characters and is multi-faceted. These are the styles we are aiming to produce.” |
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Prior to the 2002 vintage, Bill and Dan Pannell returned from a pre-vintage research trip to Burgundy with a few new tricks in the kit bag. They discovered some Burgundian vinification techniques which they felt would suit the Picardy Pinot Noir fruit. The end result of the careful application of these fruit handling techniques is a wine of greater colour, complexity and weight than has been produced previously. The wine still retains all of its typical elegance however, and has a little more silkiness than before. Aromas of maraschino cherry and raspberry show on the nose, along with a delightful earthy, truffle character (resulting from the clone 114). The palate is finely structured, though fleshy and silky, with hints of sour cherry underpinned by sweet plum and red currant. The palate is long, the finish fine and dry, with outstanding persistence. Oak presence, as always, is supportive, not dominant. This is a stunning wine, which has been described by Pinot Noir enthusiast, Greg Munyard as “clearly the best non Tete de Cuvee Pinot Noir released by Picardy to date, having the complexity of the ’99, optimally ripe fruit and great balance like the 2000 and the weight and suppleness of the 2001. An iconic wine that will be a benchmark for Australian Pinot Noir for years to come.” Drink now to 2013 |
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The seasonal conditions laid the foundations for the production of an outstanding Picardy pinot noir in 2001. The 2001 drinks well now, and will continue to improve for at least the next five years. This wine is in much the same vein as the 2000 pinot noir. All clones represented in this wine have achieved yield maturity (the earthy 114 clone being the last to do so) and therefore the 2001 is quite Burgundian in style. It is also representative of what is now, the Picardy style. Flavour profile offers suggestions of earth and truffle characters offset by sweet fruit in the dark cherry spectrum. As this wine matures we feel that the truffle and earth elements will build slowly. One of Picardy’s hallmarks is careful use of oak. Typically, oak influence in the 2001 Pinot Noir is both subtle and supportive, adding complexity and length to the wine. The acid is obvious but nicely balanced against tannin and fruit sweetness, giving the wine a succulent character and guaranteeing longevity. Tannin, as always is fine and deftly integrated. The Pannell’s feel this wine will drink now to 2010+ |
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Bill and Dan have concluded that the inclusion of higher percentages of the new clonal material and greater vine age have resulted in increased complexity with each successive vintage. The 2000 Pinot Noir included a higher proportion of the 114 clone in the blend. This has added some beautiful earthy, truffly characters, which Bill and Dan have been anticipating. They also feel that the subtlety and elegance of the Meyrieux oak is enhancing flavour and complexity. This wine has extreme fruit intensity, structure and balance. In spite of its early appeal, we have no doubt that it will age gracefully for many years. Once again the pH to acid relationship is excellent and the wine has some of that less ripe, lean fruit to give the back palate lift and length. This wine is now looking excellent but will still cellar for another 2 to 3 years. |
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Unbelievable! This wine has extreme fruit intensity, structure and balance. It is one of those wines which drinks incredibly well now but will keep for a very long time. Once again the pH to acid relationship is extremely good and the wine has a bit of that less ripe, lean fruit to give the back palate lift and length. Bill and Dan think that the inclusion of higher percentages of the new clonal material and the older vines are really starting to pay off. They also feel that the subtleness and elegance of the Meyrieux oak is showing through. |
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Bill and Dan Pannell believe this is the best Chardonnay from Picardy to date, and it’s easy to see why – it is a beautifully refined wine with gentle complexity and fine fruit nuances to the fore. Indeed if wine could be defined in dance terms, this chardonnay is a prima ballerina among too many other styles still plodding out the waltz (with varying degrees of proficiency!) While much Australian chardonnay remains overly ponderous, this wine is a testament to delicacy and subtlety. One of the yeast strains trialled in the 2005 Picardy Chardonnay was used again alongside the primary yeast in this wine. This made the blend more complex and added a fuller mid-palate. There is a refined nose showing floral, peach and flinty aromas. The palate has excellent structure, with quite luscious fruit and tight tangy acid. Gentle fruit flavours are complex and include lime zest, with hints of mineral, hazelnut, lemon, and pear and honey as secondary characters. These characters will develop with careful aging for five to ten years. The careful and limited use of oak shows through, extending the palate with a lingering savoury finish. The Pannell’s objective to make WA’s most refined and complex chardonnay is coming closer with each passing vintage! |
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