Murdoch Hill Apollo Pinot Noir 2023
Murdoch Hill Apollo Pinot Noir 2023
$93, 12-5% alcohol, screwcap, Adelaide Hills.
Grown on a single (10 hectare) vineyard at Lenswood in the Adelaide Hills.
Three blocks of pinot noir used, two planted in 1989 and the other in the early 2000s (the latter to Dijon clones 114 and 115).
20% whole bunches, 40% new French oak.
2023 was a cool vintage temperature-wise.
The style is more about structure and length than brute fruit intensity.
Flavoured acidity, long strings of tannin, cuts of mineral and herb notes rolled and crushed on the heal of your palm. This is the top tier Pinot Noir from Murdoch Hill but its quality is built more on length, style and finesse than it is on any overt step up in intensity. There a momentum to this wine; an irrepressibility. It’s juicy, dry, tannic and, ultimately, thrilling through the finish. 95 points.
