2024 Chatto Bird Pinot Noir, Piper's River

Single-site pinot noir (clone 114) from the Bird vineyard in Pipers River. Bright ruby in the glass with a taut aromatic profile of red cherry, redcurrant and raspberry. These fruit tones are undercut with hints of undergrowth, exotic spice, shiitake broth, smoked meats, fennel tops, gentle meadow herbs and some distant wood spice. The fruit, too, is stretched on a minerally canvas. The tannins, pumice fine, gather gravity as the wine progresses across the palate, but lie nicely sympatico with the fruit. It's a delicate, nuanced style and one with plenty of cellaring upside. Drink 2025 to 2040.

94 points Dave Brookes for Halliday Wine Companion, September 2025

Light-medium red-purple colour; shy aromas of clean fresh red cherry to raspberry aromas, some attractive herb touches, and firming, cleansing tannins to complete the picture. Very smart pinot of a more delicate style, and best served with food. Drink 2025 to 2034.

94 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, July 2025

The 2024 Bird Pinot Noir is from the Piper's Brook vineyard in Piper's River, and in the glass, the wine is light in color and ultra perfumed. In the mouth, the wine is all about rose petals and clove, with notes of cocoa, dried herb and red apple skins. It's pure and intense, elegant and pretty. This is from Clone 114 on sandy soil, and the tannins have that lovely reflection in them too; they're chalky, sandy, fresh and fine. No whole bunches were used in this cuvée. Drink 2026 to 2036.

93 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, March 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.

Pipers River sits at the cooler, northern end of Tasmania's Tamar Valley. It is a region of gentle slopes and maritime influence where the growing season runs long and the fruit builds intensity quietly. The Bird vineyard was planted by Tasmanian pioneer Dr Andrew Pirie in 1998 to a single clone — 114 — on sandy soils that give the wine its characteristic chalky, fine-grained tannins and a delicacy that can be deceptive. Light in colour and lifted in perfume, this is not a wine that announces itself. It captivates.

Red cherry, redcurrant and raspberry on the nose, with undergrowth, exotic spice and a thread of fennel. The palate is fine and precise, with pumice-like tannins and a minerally line that stretches long and pure.

Don't be fooled by the lightness, the intensity of flavour here rewards attention. Drinking well now through 2040. We have tiny quantities available.