Editors notes
Hand-picked, 80% whole berries, 5 days cold soak, wild yeast open-fermented, 17 days on skins, matured in French oak (25% new) for 7 months, 100 dozen made. Excellent colour and clarity; the bouquet is very expressive, perfectly ripened pinot noir notes to the fore, warm spices in the background. A tantalisingly seductive palate, with the flavours washing across and along the mouth, leaving an imprint that takes a seeming eternity to diminish.
Details
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Wine Type
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Variety
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Oak Type
Tasting Profile
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Sweet (Sweet)Dry (Dry)
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Low Acidity (Low Acidity)High Acidity (High Acidity)
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Aroma
- Earthy
- Herbal
- Red Fruits
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Palate
- Cedar
- Red Cherry
- Strawberry
Food Pairings
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Fish
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Game
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Poultry
Critic Scores & reviews
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James Halliday
95"Hand-picked, 80% whole berries, 5 days cold soak, wild yeast open-fermented, 17 days on skins, matured in French oak (25% new) for 7 months, 100 dozen made. Excellent colour and clarity; the bouquet is very expressive, perfectly ripened pinot noir notes to the fore, warm spices in the background. A tantalisingly seductive palate, with the flavours washing across and along the mouth, leaving an imprint that takes a seeming eternity to diminish."
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Jane Faulkner
96"An alluring wine that offers both drinking pleasure now but also more structure to allow it to unfurl over the next few years thus adding another layer of depth. Buoyant with a wave of red cherry and spiced plums with some dried herbs and juniper berries. The medium-bodied palate is glorious with ribbons of fine tannins, yet some grip and a conclusive finish."
Other vintages
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Locations
Australia
Australia's wine industry is a thriving part of the country's economy, contributing significantly to employment, production, export, and tourism. In fact, the industry is the fourth-largest wine exporter in the world, shipping out 760 million liters of wine to countries including France, Italy, Spain, and the UK. One of the key factors contributing to Australia's success as a "New World" wine producer is the formal export and marketing of its wines through Wine Australia.
Australia's wine regions are scattered across the south and southeast, with almost every state boasting its own vineyards. Victoria, for example, is home to an impressive 21 wine regions. Some of the most famous wine regions in Australia include Margaret River, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Eden Valley, Clare Valley, Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley, and local regions to New South Wales such as Cowra, Southern Highlands, and Mudgee.
Australian winemakers are known for producing a diverse range of grape varieties, with Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir being among the most popular. They tend to focus on producing wines that are ripe, fruit-forward, and easy to drink, using modern winemaking techniques and equipment such as stainless steel tanks and temperature-controlled fermentation.
With its bold, fruit-driven flavors and reputation for quality and diversity, Australian wine has become a popular choice for wine lovers around the world. And with such a broad range of wine regions and grape varieties, there's something for every palate to enjoy.

Victoria
The wine region of Victoria has the highest number of grapevines than any other state in Australia. It is home to over 600 wineries and well-known regions such as Yarra Valley, Heathcote, and Rutherglen. Victoria is situated in the southeastern corner of Australia where due to the location, the climate has a cool maritime influence and is known for its outstanding Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, along with producing Australia’s most famed dessert Muscat and Topaque wines.
There are a number of different terroir levels throughout the wine region of Victoria which leads to the production of different ranges of wines. In the southern region of Victoria, the vines are regulated by the cool winds of the Bass Strait. Central Victoria consists of mostly flat terrain that tends to be drier and warmer than the rest of Victoria, which results in more fruit concentrated wines. It may be surprising to note that Victoria is the third most productive wine region in Australia, seeing as it does not have as many areas suitable for viticulture, which has resulted in the cellar door culture of Victoria being concentrated with smaller, but more personal boutique wineries.

Mornington Peninsula
The quality of Mornington Peninsula wines has skyrocketed in the past few years, and no grape variety has done so more than Pinot Noir wrote Huon Hooke back in 2012 in the Sydney Morning Herald. Rightly too, for the wines are superb and have been compared to the magnificent Vosnee Romanee.
The cool climate region to the South of Melbourne experiences a maritime climate ideally suited to the cultivation of Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Shiraz (Syrah) and Pinot Gris. The maritime climate is greatly influenced by Bass Straight and Port Philip Bay high winds. The winds limit frost and humidity which in turn limits mould and mildews which can plague Pinot vines grown elsewhere.

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Pairs Well With
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Frequently Bought With
About the brand Principia Wines
Darrin Gaffy’s guiding philosophy for Principia is minimal interference, thus the vines (3ha of pinot noir and 0.5ha of chardonnay) are not irrigated and yields are restricted to 3.75t/ha or less. All wine movements are by gravity or by gas pressure, which in turn means there is no filtration, and both primary and secondary fermentation are by wild yeast. ‘Principia’ comes from the word ‘beginnings’ in Latin.