Bindi Dixon Pinot Noir 2023

The 'Bindi' family property at Gisborne in the Macedon Ranges is arguably one of the most incredible vineyard/winery sites in Australia. At the large sandstone gates you are greeted with this beautifully laid out hillside slope, meandering down covered in vines, with the family home and winery sat amid the middle - whilst the remaining area is a mix of significant forestry planting, remnant bushland and important indigenous grasslands.

You can see the amount of time and planning spent setting this up for not only the two generations that have farmed the property, but for future generations. Originally purchased in the 1950s as part of the larger grazing farm ‘Bundaleer’, the current focus of the Bindi property is the vineyard - planted in 1988. Organic practices under vine have been utilised since 2006.

Michael Dhillon oversees all aspects of viticulture and winemaking - his philosophy is to seek balance and purity in the expression of various individual vineyard sites with this philosophy applied to farming and conservation at ‘Bindi’; the preservation of the natural harmony. Michael served as assistant winemaker to Stuart Anderson from 1991 until 1998 when he assumed full responsibility. Michael learned his craft working with Stuart as well as experiencing vintages in Europe, his passion for Burgundy has seen him visit over 100 Domaines over two decades.

Not only is this a special place, these too are special wines - everything is done on site, harvesting by hand, with all winemaking and then bottling occurring within the property. Everything is fermented naturally, without the use of any additions, enzymes or fining agents. The outcome - easily some of Australia's finest Pinot Noir.

Dixon is a Pinot bottling sourced from a part of the original 1988 planting at Bindi, and some of the 2001 planted Kaye vineyard. Bottled slightly earlier than the other 5 Pinots at 10 months rather than 15.

An incredibly complex wine on opening, with smatterings of sous bois and a melange of bright red hued fruits, cherry, framboise moving through to an earthier, darker vein. It should be noted that this is still a wine of absolute clarity and transparency, the whole berry fruit is extremely precise and is framed with a beautiful balance of musk and wood spice, shaping a wonderfully fanning beautifully delicious finish.