2024 Dalrymple Single Site Pinot Noir, Pipers River

Tasmania's fifth appearance in our Best In Show selection is also its third Pinot Noir in as many years; two additional whites (a Riesling and a Chardonnay) were featured back in the 2017 and 2019 DWWA editions respectively. This wine is relatively deep in colour, with ample soft red fruit aromatic sweetness (cherries and strawberries); there are rose-petal floral notes, too, as well as cedar and graphite notes from fine-coopered oak. The 2024 vintage was mild and settled, with a generous ripening window, and the harmony and limpidity of flavour that comes from a season of that sort are much in evidence here. The Tasmanian difference, perhaps, is evident in a tightening towards the end of the palate as some sour cherry acidity creeps in to bring the flavour sweep towards a focused finish. A Pinot of style and verve.

97 points & Best in Show 2026 Decanter World Wine Awards

Deep colour with some purple in the meniscus; the bouquet bold and showing sousbois, foresty and oaky aromas. In the mouth it has richness and weight, sweet fruit core backed by substantial fine, powdery tannins, the finish dry and gently firm. It's already starting to build some tertiary complexity: an excellent pinot noir. Drink to 2036.

94 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, July 2026

The fruit for this wine was grown in blocks D and E1 in Dalrymple’s estate vineyard along the Pipers River in northern Tasmania. A warm and dry vintage provided ripe fruit aromas and flavours.

The hand-picked and destemmed grapes were fermented with a 10% whole bunch inclusion, the short five-day fermentation including a couple of hand plunges for gentle extraction of tannins. The pressed wine was settled prior to a 10-month period of malolactic fermentation and maturation in French oak barriques of which 30% were new.

About this producer

The home of Dalrymple Vineyards is on the slopes of Pipers River in northern Tasmania. Established in 1987 by Bertel and Anne Sundstrup with Jill Mitchell, the site was acquired by Hill-Smith Family Vineyards in 2007. Peter Caldwell has been the steward of Dalrymple in the vineyards and the winery alike since 2010.