The Pinot Club November 2021 Releases: Hochkirch Maximus Pinot Noir 2017 $50 & Hochkirch Vllage Pinot Noir 2019 $45

Hochkirch Maximus Pinot Noir 2017 $50

Notes from winemaker John Nagorcka: Big year again harvest 20-24/3, 30% whole bunch, the rest destemmed not crushed to small open vats, with no additions. Wild ferment, daily plunge Pressed 4/4 to tank, settled then to small French wood, 15% new. Left till racked 7/18 (no additions) then assembled 6/11/18 + 50 ppm SO2. Bottled 30/11/18 Drinks note: This is the best wine that John can produce each year, some years it is not made. These are the oldest vines and the best barrels. This wine always has a velvety, thick and deep mouthfeel but with outstanding retention of acidity and freshness and a distinctive earthy, sappy complexity which is the terroir. Pure, long and complex this will age well, the wine has a terrific stony lift on the finish that gives it nice definition. Excellent. Notes from Jonathon McDonald: The Drinks note is pretty spot-on. It’s really deep, foresty and almost full-bodied, I’d call it almost more resinous than sappy, more black fruit than red. A lovely old-school Australian Pinot, with no sherbet or candied strawberry in sight, quite a rare breed these days. It’s exceptional value. Tech: Biodynamic (Demeter certified) Basalt loam over gravel then clay at depth. Close planted at 5,000-6000 vines/ha on a north facing slope. Fermented in open small vats with manual plunging then raised in old and new French Barriques. Left to mature in old oak for 18 to 19 months before release

Hochkirch Vllage Pinot Noir 2019 $45

John & Jennifer Nagorcka’s family vineyard (20 acres) is part of a larger integrated Demeter certified mixed Biodynamic farm of 700 acres. The vineyard is close planted at 5,000-6000 vines/Ha on a North facing slope, 250m above sea level near Tarrington in southwest Victoria. Our family’s story here in southwest Victoria began in the mid nineteenth century when my great grandfather Christian Nagorcka migrated from Sachsen in what is now southeast Germany. As part of a large migration of people from this area to the new world at that time, he first went to the Barossa Valley in South Australia, already home to many expatriate Germans, before finally moving to southwest Victoria to take up land near the village of Hochkirch, 14km east of The Grange, now known as Hamilton. Driven largely by the ignorance and hubris of youth but also motivated by more humble and sensible motives we first planted vines in 1990. This comprised 7 varieties on 3 acres as an experiment, seeking guidance for varietal selection in this cold marginal climate. With limited direct experience and relying on industry best practice and advice we achieved the rare outcome of doing almost everything badly. With time we learnt that low density plantings in wide rows with high trellis was spectacularly unsuccessful in our terroir and so we adapted to our now uniform layout of closely spaced rows, closely spaced vines and low trellis to take advantage of the summer warmth. We now farm 20 acres in the Hochkirch vineyard, comprising 11 acres Pinot Noir, 3 acres of Syrah ,4 acres of Riesling, 1.5 acres Semillon/Sauvignon Blanc, and half an acre of Chardonnay. We also farm 5 acres in our Tarrington vineyard, 2 acres of Chardonnay and 3 of Pinot Noir. All vines are dry grown, hand pruned and harvested by hand. Hochkirch Village Pinot Noir 2019 2019 gave Henty a warm dry January, then a cool-ish February. Picking took place over five days in early March. 30% whole bunches were retained, and the rest of the harvest was destemmed. Wild ferment was in small open vats, and the juice had about three to four days rest before some gentle foot-stomping and a daily plunge. Everything was pressed after 14 days into tank, and was then gravity-fed to small, mainly old French oak. Malo was allowed to progress, and the wine was racked and assembled after 15 months. The only addition was 50ppm SO2 at bottling. Note from John Nagorcka (Hochkirch) 2019 Village hand harvested 5-9/3. 30% whole bunch rest destemmed not crushed into open vats. Cold maceration, then indigenous yeast ferment with daily pigeage. Pressed 19-23/3 into tank then gravity feed into small French oak 15% new. Natural malo late spring/summer then racked 7/20 and assembled 9/20. Racked to bottle 11/20 with only add 50ppm SO2.