2025 Tolpuddle Vineyard Pinot Noir, Coal River Valley

Deep, bold red-purple colour. Lovely ripe, sweet dark cherry aromas, a touch of brandied cherry, fragrant and charming as well as powerfully structured, concentrated and very intense. Abundant tannins add their backbone and mouth-feel without bitterness or extractiveness. Great potential. A seriously impressive pinot noir.

97 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, October 2026

This is a wonderfully expressive pinot noir from one of Tasmania's finest sites. 50% whole bunches in '25, and those filigreed amaro and dried spice elements are woven beautifully into the wine. The fruit base is pure dark cherry, damson plum and wild strawberry fruits, with souk-like spice, dried meats, Chinese barbecue shop, shiitake broth, dried citrus rind, meadow flowers and layers of spice and rocky nuance. It's an immediately attractive wine, with blossoming flavours kept in check by fine, sinewy tannins, taut, mineral-laden acidity and a long draw of flavour on the finish, the wine sailing gracefully and true throughout. Drink to 2038.

96+ points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, September 2026

The Coal River Valley had a kind 2025: solid winter rain against the long-term average, flowering through warmish conditions that let fruit set cleanly, and rain arriving exactly when it was needed. Summer stayed mild, running cooler overall than 2024, and both yield and quality followed suit. This cuvée has earned its place as one of the wines that put Tasmanian Pinot on the map – a site expression prized for its power and structure as much as its purity. There’s gorgeous presence to the perfume from the outset, and it’s a stunning mix of pure and perfectly ripe raspberry and mashed strawberry bringing a decidedly red-fruited aesthetic, along with lashings of countervailing woody spice in ground nutmeg and clove. Dried violets, subtle rhubarb and allusions of earthy beetroot sit in the finer detail, culminating in brilliant complexity. There’s volume to the texture and power to the fruit on the palate, with a firm and welcome wrap of chalky tannins constricting the mouth and drawing length. There’s a velveteen feel to this wine – it has good depth of fruit while still flowing through the palate, and the chalky tannins and surging acidity provide excellent frame and carry. There’s also a real sense of cohesion and harmony at such a young age. A very strong release.

96 points Tom Kline for Wine Pilot, September 2026

To let great fruit be great in the glass, you have to let it sing. You have to give it its head and try not to interfere too much, but rather enhance its natural gift. There is such a lovely refinement to this Pinot, such verve and vibrancy and, in singing terms, perfect pitch. Brilliant, glistening purple hues. Aromas come lifted and aromatic in cherry, pomegranate, rose petal florals, dried herbs with a lingering raspberry fruit brightness. Displays a coiled energy throughout, a tension elevated by a seam of vibrant, crunchy acidity and smooth, fine tannins. Flavours roll across the tongue in concentrated fruits, earthy herbals, cola, tomato leaf, anise with resounding high tone spices in train. Runs long, sealing the impression of this wine’s overall beauty and grace.

96 points Jeni Port for Wine Pilot, September 2026

Tolpuddle Vineyard was established in 1988 by Michael Hill Smith and Martin Shaw of Shaw + Smith fame. A single site in Tasmania’s southern Coal River Valley, its wins are made by Adam Wadewitz, to whom Michael and Martin’s also turned to for their critically acclaimed MMAD project in McLaren Vale. The focus in Tasmania is on luxury table wines from Chardonnay and Pinot Noir.

The hand-picked fruit for this wine was fermented in open wooden and stainless fermenters as a combination of whole berries and whole bunches with gentle plunging throughout. The wine was matured for ten months in French oak of which one third was new.