Mr Riggs Valerie Pinot Noir 2025
AU$35, 13.5% alcohol screwcap, Adelaide Hills.
There’s a bit more substance to this pinot noir than is usual for this variety. It tastes of stewed red and black cherries, fennel seeds, sweet spices and earth notes, with mint and woodsmoke characters adding extra lift. It’s firm with tannin and well extended through the finish – indeed it feels well made and polished all around.
91 points – Campbell Mattinson.
Campbell Mattinson
Campbell Mattinson has been an independent journalist, wine critic and photographer for forty years. He founded The Winefront, is a former chief editor of the Halliday Wine Companion (and former editor of Halliday magazine), and is the only Australian to have won the Australian Wine Communicator of the Year Award more than once. He is 100% independent, and tastes between 5,000 and 10,000 wines each year, blind and in comparative brackets as often as is practicable.
Mattinson is also the founder of the Mattinson Photography business.
