2025 Chatto Franklinii Pinot Noir, Huon Valley

A perfumed pinot noir release from Jim Chatto, with fruit sourced from the Huon Valley. The fruits seem a little redder with this release, with high tones of pippy raspberry, red plum and wild strawberry on top of the base notes of red and dark cherry. That array of spice has some allure, no? Hints, too, of rose petal, citrus blossom, crushed herbs and rocks, charcuterie, dried citrus rind, star anise, judicious oak and a wisp of struck flint. Just the right amount of buoyancy and space here. It has wonderful pure fruits, layers of spice, game and leaf litter, and a lovely mineral cadence to boot. Drink to 2038.

95 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, June 2026

Jim Chatto's obsession with Pinot Noir has taken him around the world but it was Tasmania that had the strongest pull. After years of searching, he found his place at Glaziers Bay in the Huon Valley, right on the edge of viticultural possibility. The Isle vineyard planted in 2007 remains the heart of Chatto Wines. A small and carefully chosen family of Tasmanian wines has grown around it, each one a conversation with the variety and the site, driven by an insatiable curiosity for Pinot Noir.

The Franklinii takes its name from Lagarostrobos franklinii — the Huon Pine — an ancient conifer species found only in southern Tasmania, some specimens living for thousands of years. It is a fitting name for a wine from one of Australia's most southerly wine regions, where the cool, slow-ripening conditions of the Huon Valley produce Pinot Noir of real delicacy and depth.

Dark cherry and wild strawberry on the nose, with floral lift, star anise and dried herbs. The palate cuts stony and savoury, with powdery tannins and a fine mineral line that carries the wine to a long, composed finish. Production is small and these wines move quickly.

At home with a slow-roasted duck, a mushroom and lentil ragù, or a plate of soft washed-rind cheese at the end of an unhurried evening.

Drinking well now through 2033.