He fell in love with Tasmanian Pinot Noir, and a girl called Daisy. In 1998 Jim moved to Tasmania as the inaugural winemaker for Rosevears Estate in the Tamar Valley. With 25+ years of winemaking experience, Jim Chatto is also a senior wine show judge with over 20 years of experience across both regional, capital city shows and was the Chairman of Judges for the National Wine Show of Australia 2014-2016. Needs a few years, but so emphatic and good. It’s a wine of gravitas and purpose, and the finish is very long, replete with pencilly flavour and fine grained tannin, perhaps some poached strawberry and more of that signature spice and dried herb perfume trailing.
It’s all slate and dark cherry, melting graphite tannin, a little orange peel and peaty flavour, concentrated, slick and savoury, bright and well-etched, the dried flower perfume and sooty flavours are compelling, and interesting. All the dried roses and musky spice, dark cherry, blood plum, cloves and wild peaty perfume. Apparently there’s 1% Gewurztraminer in the ferment here, which is planted somewhere in the vineyard. It’s a good situation to be in, and given the cost and labour involved in starting a small vineyard from scratch, a nice place to be. This wine, and the Intrigue, are allocated to people with standing orders.
2020 Isle A vineyard selection, made from clones 777, 667 and Abel.
