Ghost Rock Single Vineyard Pinot Noir Climat 2023

Variety: 100 % Pinot Noir
Country, Region: Australia, Tasmania

Planted in 2014 and converted to Organics in 2019. The only such vineyard on the estate. Its sheltered, northern slope and well-drained loam over sand soils provide the ideal conditions for outstanding Pinot Noir viticulture. The clonal mix for the 2023 vintage was D5V12 (52 %), 777 (23 %), MV6 (13 %) and D4V2 (12 %).

Clones were individually picked on ripeness and fermented in two separate lots. They were wild fermented with zero additions. Hand plunged twice daily, pressed when dry. Wild malolactic fermentation completed in the spring, creating a deeper coloured and layered wine. Aged exclusively in all 1-year-old French oak barrels. Sulfur was the only addition, added at bottling.
14.1 % Alc/Vol; 6.7 g/L TA; 3.69 pH.

‘There are seven single vineyards of Ghost Rock, per se, this is one of them, and it gets made each year. Wild ferment, no additions, no filtering and no fining, a touch of sulphur for preserving. Organic farmed. It’s got softness and spread, a suppleness and flow, dark cherry, earthiness, sappy botanical elements, a touch of game meat and woody-savoury elements. It’s so pure and yet rich, a generosity in its layers of flavour, aroma, texture. It’s got a faint core of crushed rock minerality too. A wild streak, perhaps, lending charm and personality. I love this. Drinkability and complexity, with purity, hand-in-hand. Drink 2024-2030.’ 95 points, Mike Bennie, The Winefront, April 2024.

'In ‘01, Cate and Colin Arnold purchased the former Patrick Creek Vineyard planted exclusively to pinot noir in 1989. The vineyards, situated among the patchwork fields of Sassafras to the south and the white sands of the Port Sorell Peninsula to the north, now total 30ha: pinot noir (14 clones) remains the bedrock of the plantings, with other varieties including chardonnay, pinot gris, riesling and sauvignon blanc. Ownership has passed to son Justin and his wife Alicia (who runs the cooking school and cellar door). Justin’s experience in the Yarra Valley (Coldstream Hills), Margaret River (Devil’s Lair) and Napa Valley (Etude) has paid dividends – the business is going from strength to strength, and the capacity of the 100t winery has been tripled. Exports to Japan.' James Halliday, Halliday Wine Companion.

Established in 1999, Ghost Rock came to life when Colin and Cate Arnold purchased the Patrick's Creek vineyard (planted in 1989) at Northdown, just outside Devonport in Northern Tasmania. Here, just a few minutes from where the Spirit of Tasmania ferry docks and but an hour's drive from Cradle Mountain, the vineyards enjoy a maritime climate overlooking Bass Strait, producing immaculately ripened fruit of particular freshness and complexity.

Over the ensuing 20-odd years the Arnold family would continue planting out additional vineyards, substantially with Pinot Noir (and a good dozen different clones at that!), but also with Chardonnay, Riesling, Pinot Gris and a little Sauvignon Blanc. And before they knew it, they had almost single-handedly created the wine region now dubbed Tasmania's Cradle Coast.

In 2017 Colin and Cate's son Justin and his wife Alicia Peardon took over the business and have continued to turn out new and exciting wines, earning 5-star recognition from the Halliday Wine Companion, amongst many other accolades. Justin takes care of the winemaking, having honed his skills at Coldstream Hills, Devil's Lair and at Etude in California's Carneros Creek, whilst Alicia manages the Cellar Door and Eatery.

Today the wines fall into three ranges: the Estate and Single Vineyard wines are self-explanatory, whilst the Supernatural wines make up Ghost Rock's 'Lo-Fi' range. Or as Justin has put it,

'Creativity and deliciousness rule the roost within this portfolio, bound to one rule only; high quality, estate-grown fruit as the source component. The rest is in the imagination and the craft. The range follows a ‘LoFi’ mantra of being wild ferment driven and exclusively unfined/unfiltered/low SO2.'