2022 Crittenden Cri de Coeur Pinot Noir, Mornington Peninsula

Power, poise, elegance and refinement. A marvellous expression of Pinot from Mornington in a very good year. A little more whole bunch and new oak have been brought into the equation to support the power-laden fruit intensity. This is a high-class Pinot with a vibrant high-energy palate, effortlessly extending through to a smooth elegant finish. There is real power here delivered with that subtle Pinot finesse. This is built to last and at least 15 years in the cellar would be no problem. Drink 2024 to 2039.

98 points Ray Jordan for Wine Pilot, February 2025

Matured in 85% new oak for 11 months and a further 18 months in bottle. The final blend has around 45% whole bunch inclusion. When you look at the tech details you might think ‘well that’s a fair amount of fuss in time and labour’ but when you taste the wine all of it fades away. Because here you’ll find a treasure trove of Bing cherries, Mirabelle plums and staining mulberries. There is christmas magic of spices and bergamot skin. Shards of brulee toffee and persimmon. Tannins are sturdy but woven together with finite acidity. You’ll be smacking your lips and tongue finding another nuance with each sip. It’s dizzyingly delightful and worth every moment of painstakingly considered preparation, for this is a wine that will stay with you. Drink now and will cellar for another 6 years. I’d be inclined to serve this with pork and black fungi dumplings and black vinegar. It doesn’t need a lot, just the right bite. Drink 2024 to 2030.

97 points Shanteh Wale for Wine Pilot, February 2025

This is up there as one of the finest Cri de Coeurs to date. It retains a core of cherry fruit, some kirsch, chinotto, blood orange juice and zest. Plus lots of spices and cedar wood flavours – not oaky, though. Fuller bodied, textural tannins with a little hazelnut skin feel to them, then fine acidity freshens the palate in time for another sip. Drink 2024 to 2034.

96 points Jane Faulkner for Halliday Wine Companion, August 2024

Deep-ish red-purple, bright and clear; the bouquet is sweetly cherry varietal, bold and brash, with a generous quota of oak. It has a firm tannin backbone that suggests either food or a stint in the cellar would suit it. A solid pinot noir with a big frame, that would surely reward some extra cellar time. Drink 2025 to 2037

95 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, January 2024

I like how fragrant this wine is, and how dry, and how spicy, and how well sustained. It’s as good a Pinot Noir as I’ve seen out of Crittenden Estate; actually it’s the best. Strawberry, red cherries, a gun smoke element, a minerally/ferrous note, and a long, impeccably-well-controlled dryness through the finish. Dry herb notes – let’s call them “Italian herbs” – murmur throughout. This is very good.

95 points Campbell Mattinson for Wine Front

Crittenden was established in Dromana in 1982 by Garry Crittenden — at a time when planting those first vines effectively doubled the total vineyard area on the Mornington Peninsula. His son Rollo returned home after years making wine abroad and now leads the winemaking, bringing a broader perspective to a place he knows intimately. The Dromana vineyard is farmed sustainably without synthetic inputs, with a focus on building natural resilience in the vines over time.

The Cri de Coeur — Cry of the Heart — was established in 2012 as the expression of what Rollo Crittenden believed the Dromana vineyard was capable of at its best and made in tiny quantities.

The 2022 was a low-yielding vintage across the Mornington Peninsula but for many vineyards of very good quality. Grapes were hand harvested from the Dromana home vineyard and fermented in open-top barrels with 45% whole bunches retained through a three-week ferment. Each batch was pressed separately before racking to 85% new French oak barriques for 11 months, with natural malolactic fermentation complete by winter. Bottled without fining or filtration, then held for a further 18 months in bottle before release.

The result is a Pinot Noir of real power and poise — cherry, Mirabelle plum and mulberry on the nose with Christmas spice, bergamot and cedar, a depth and layering that builds with time in the glass. The palate is full and textural, with sturdy, finely woven tannins and a vibrant acid line driving through to a long, composed finish.

The wine's power and spice find their best partner in something rich: a slow-braised duck with black fungi and black vinegar, or pork belly with five spice and steamed bao.

Drink now through 2039.