POOLEY Jack Denis Pooley Pinot Noir, Coal River Valley, Tasmania

By Farr Tout Près Pinot Noir is pale ruby colour with medium intense aromas of crushed raspberries, beets, loam, truffles and a hint of lavender. Crisp with a medium level of fine tannins matched to the concentrated fruit, it has a long minerally finish.

The Yarra Yering Pinot Noir is produced from what are amongst the oldest Pinot Noir vines in the Yarra Valley. Always aristocratic, fragrant with intense aromas of sweet strawberry and ripe plums, the Yarra Yering Pinot rounds out with mouthfilling notes of the same with a length hard to ignore.

Fermented with native yeasts and are then aged in French oak for 12 and 18 months. Then softly pumped into stainless steel tanks where they are blended and allowed to rest. Bottled with no filtration or fining.

Intense ruby red colour and an attractive nose offering fresh red fruits, sweet spice, oaky notes and a touch of smoke. The palate is smooth and persistent with fruity, oaky notes that linger on the finish. A remarkably elegant wine with silky smooth tannins and a very distinctive finish. Based in Nuits-St-Georges, the famous Domaine Faiveley was founded in 1825 and in more recent times, the domaine has greatly expanded its vineyards across the entire Côte d'Or. The grapes are entirely destemmed and fermented in a mix of new wooden vats for the top end wines and stainless steel for the lesser cuvees. Once notorious for being fairly austere, there has been less emphasis on extraction over the last ten years and the wines show increased freshness, purity of fruit and more judicious use of oak. A contender for one of the most improved domaines in Burgundy over the last decade.

DOMAINE MICHELE & PATRICE RION Vielles Vignes, Chambolle-Musigny

Felton Road is responsible for putting Central Otago on the world Pinot Noir map. Producing some of the new world's greatest Pinot's, the winery's Block 5 is no exception to the richly textured, polished style. Full of fine dark tannin and subtle hints of spice, the fruit somewhat takes a back sit into the darkness. A few years in the cellar will no doubt open this beautiful wine up.

Felton Road is responsible, to a large extent, for putting Central Otago on the world Pinot Noir map. The wines are, well not so much fruit-driven, as perhaps turbo-charged! Amazing levels of red fruits, a subtle yet important savoury component, along with the silky texture all Pinot enthusiasts long for. This single-block wine shows how different portions of a single vineyard can still have a quite unique character, or what the French would call terrior.