2024 Clarence House Reserve Pinot Noir Half Bottle 375ml, Southern Tasmania

Please note: this is the 375mL size of the wine (half/demi-bottle)

Bright plummy aromas immediately leap from the glass along with wild strawberry, dark cherry and pomegranate. There's a juiciness to the fruit and there is plenty of spicy depth. Hints of purple florals, crushed rocks, cherry conserve and lighter tones of roasted game and leaf litter. There's lovely fruit here and a brightness and minerality to its line, with superfine, powdery tannins and a sapid spring to the acid line. Drink to 2035.

94 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, October 2025

Clarence House is historic homestead built in 1830 on land which was originally the market garden for the city of Hobart. Located in the foothills of the Meehan Ranges between River Derwent and the Coal River Valley, its present owner David Kilpatrick first planted vines on the property’s dolerite and basalt northeast facing slopes in 1998. Numerous clones of Pinot Noir dominate the now 16-hectare vineyard, followed by Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc and tiny experimental blocks of Pinot Blanc, Tempranillo, Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot.

The vineyard is managed with judicious use of inputs and sustainability in mind. Systemic herbicides, insecticides and fungicides are not used, the under vine area is slashed, the inter-row sward is left to thrive and flower, irrigation is used sparingly and the vine canopies are treated in a way that promotes balanced, tempered growth in line with the current season’s conditions.

All Clarence House wines are made by Justin Bubb and Anna Pooley. The fruit for this wine was destemmed, with a small 15% portion kept as whole bunches for the ferment that started with indigenous yeasts. The wine was then matured in a combination of new and used French oak barriques and puncheons, the final blend a selection of the barrels suitable to the style that was sought.