2019 Moorilla Muse Pinot Noir, Derwent Valley

Dark chocolate, dried thyme and vanilla mix with dark red cherry notes. On the palate, more tertiary flavours take hold—mushroom, leather and mulch—which combine to offer a more savoury flavour profile. The tannins are starting to unfurl, creating a more pliant impression, although it still has a few years of life left. Drink 2025–2029.

93 points The Real Review (Gabrielle Poy, November 2025)

The grapes for this wine were grown in the Moorilla Estate vineyard in Derwent Valley. The vineyard faces west, with highly variable soils ranging from silty clay to sand over siltstone. Most of the current vines were planted in 1980, with a 10% gradually replanted from 2013). The vines are lyre trained (VSP).

The Moorilla vineyard tends to produce fruit that lends itself to a heavier and more robust style of Pinot noir. By picking over many different days and working with the variability in the vineyard, the team obtains batches that when blended allows them to showcase the best of the site. The aim is for a wine displaying a great deal of complexity and power but with a  balanced subtlety.

2019 was very warm season in the Derwent Valley. Despite some cooler periods it remained warm enough for the harvest at Moorilla to finish three weeks earlier than in previous years. Despite the heat, a good crop was harvested with balanced acids and intense flavour profiles. Each pick was fermented separately predominantly (85%) with ambient yeasts, with a small portion used in carbonic maceration. The must was kept on skins 14 days prior to pressing into barrels. The wine was kept on gross lees in 500L French oak barrels for 18 months (16% new).