Different occasions call for different wines; yet with that said I seem to consistently prefer more savoury earthy Pinot Noirs to their more fruity expressions. This is down purely to personal preference, I suppose.

The 2010 Hamilton Russell I tried was just catching its stride and letting is legs stretch. Before bottling, it had spent 10 months in French oak, of which only 44% was new and the rest a mixture of second and third fill. It lead with the aforementioned earthy/ farmyard character wrapped in aromatic sour cherries…