This Pinot is top class and on par with the marvellous 2005 vintage and expresses the very best of the Picardy terroir. The style is light to medium-bodied with a ruby red colour. Rich aromas of strawberry, cherry and vanilla oak are interlaced with the tell-tale leather and earthiness of this seductive Burgundian icon. On the palate there is pronounced red berry fruit, mineral, earth, leather, sap and a touch of spicy oak. Light, fine, dry tannins and fresh clean acidity dominate the flavour. The wine has perfect balance and weight and finishes dry and spicy with excellent length. This tastes a lot like top end Burgundy and would have to be one of the best value premier Pinots in Australia. Really alluring stuff that is almost too easy to drink! With each passing season Bill and Dan Pannell get ever closer to the perfect WA Pinot.This wine now contains 15% of the clone 777 which Bill and Dan feel is having an impressive impact on the wine.

If any Western Australian winery is leading the field in refining and changing the face of top flight Chardonnay then Picardy would have to be it. This delicate, varietal fruit-laced, seductive white is a pleasure to drink. This one dances in the glass, is streamlined, powerful yet sophisticated - a Lamborghini Chardy, if you will. Bill and Dan have conducted trials with new yeast strains in recent years and have created a very impressive, unique Pemberton Chardonnay. On the nose there are very subtle buttery notes overlaid by soft floral, peach and apricot nuances. The palate has gentle citrus and ripe flavours of honeydew melon, grapefruit and pineapple tightly knit with gentle, spicy vanilla oak.  Secondary characters include lime, hazel nut, lemon and honey. The wine finishes long and satisfying with balanced yet lingering citric acidity. The limited use of oak and the right yeast strains have been key to the unique character of this alluring white. A wine that is perfectly matched with creamy seafood pasta or lightly seasoned poultry dishes.

The Pannells have been consciously refining their Chardonnay in recent years (with impressive results), the 2007 vintage couldn’t help but have slightly richer fruit with pronounced varietal characters to the fore; it was that kind of year. This is an eminently approachable wine with attractive depth, mouth-feel and flavour spectrum. Trials with new yeast strains in recent years have created a very impressive, unique Pemberton Chardonnay. On the nose there are very subtle buttery notes overlaid by floral and peach nuances. The palate has a richer structure than the 2006, with quite luscious fruit and gentle citrus on the finish. Secondary characters include lime, hints of mineral, hazel nut, lemon, pear and honey. As in previous years the careful and limited use of oak shows through, extending the palate with a lingering, balanced finish. Perfect with creamy seafood pasta or fresh pan fried dhufish.  Bill and Dan believe that this is the best Chardonnay from Picardy so far.

The parameters for the production of the Picardy Tete de Cuvee reflect those used in the production of the great Grand Cru wines of Burgundy. This allows the production of a Pinot Noir with substantial structure and longevity, whilst retaining fruit sweetness and elegance.

This wine is not a reserve wine made in the traditional method of selecting the best barrels for separate bottling. Instead a portion of the vineyard receives extensive crop thinning and hand leaf plucking. The wine has intense fruit and assertive but fine grained tannins. Great complexity is achieved by the blending of five clones, of which three were imported from Burgundy. Every leaf is removed from the fruiting zone, to maximise fruit exposure. The vines are minimally cropped at thirty-five hectolitres per hectare (five tonnes per hectare).

The Pannell Family are confident that the Picardy Tete de Cuvee will continue to drink superbly for many years after it has been released.

The Pannell Family hope that you enjoy drinking this wine as much as they do. The Tete de Cuvee is produced in very small quantities; only 130 dozen of the 1999 vintage was made.

Drink Now to 2010

This release of the Tete de Cuvee has an incredibly complex aroma profile, so beguiling as to be difficult to describe. Bready, biscuity, musk, ethereally perfumed, briar, leatherwood honey and truffle are a few appropriate descriptors. Palate weight and concentration are exceptional, with sweet fruit balanced by a hint of cherry pith sourness. Structure is provided by balanced acidity and lots of ripe, very finely grained tannins.

This wines incredible complexity and concentration can be attributed to very low yields and a cool, dry vintage.