Striking The Right Notes
For the wines of The Ridge North Lilydale, it’s all about altitude, latitude and attitude.
The Ridge North Lilydale is a small vineyard off the beaten track, under the shelter of Mt. Arthur. It is a vineyard in a valley, but the journey to the valley climbs up through hundreds of meters from sea level. So it is a lofted, or nested valley.
This is important for producing fine pinot noir. More so for outstanding wine, as the 2017 Pinot Noir from The Ridge North Lilydale has been awarded by Halliday Wine Companion: 95 points Gold; the 2018 Pinot Noir awarded Gold Medal at the Royal Hobart Wine Show 2020 and Tasmania Wine Show 2021, and the 2019 Pinot Noir awarded Gold Medal at the International Cool Climate Wine Show 2022. These have been delivered a striking accompaniment in the award of Top Gold and Trophy for Best Sparkling Rosè at the Australian Sparkling Wine Show 2021.
Because altitude, at Tasmania’s latitudes, means the drop in night temperature during summer, during ripening, retains natural fruit acid. When the grapes from The Ridge North Lilydale are pressed at harvest, juice for the new vintage is sweet and tight, blending the natural sugars with acids. This promises complex delights for the enjoyment of pinot noir.
Tasmania is being world recognised for the quality of its pinot noir wines. Perhaps less well recognised is the diversity of pinot noir styles and themes within Tasmania. From the coastal vineyards of the East Coast, the rich agricultural vineyards of the Coal Valley, the moist temperate vineyards of the North West, and the elevated vineyards like The Ridge North Lilydale, Tasmania produces a range of pinot noir variations in a single wine region.
Of course, all Tasmania’s pinot noir can be traced back through genetic heritage to the original home of the variety, Burgundy in France. But there is richness in the diversity that has evolved in the pinot noir as it has taken root in the Southern Hemisphere, particularly in Tasmania.
As with music. It could be said that blues originates in Chicago, that trad jazz comes from New Orleans and that bluegrass music is from Tennessee. But blues and jazz and other music is interpreted where it has taken root, around the world. Recognition of the origins of music, as with wines, allows variations on the original themes to better reflect the values and tastes of the local regions where now enjoyed.
Tasmania is fortunate in many dimensions, including its music and its wine. It’s something to do with the Tasmanian attitude: reflecting our development from rugged hills and narrow valleys, across the extraordinary diversity of our landscape and our geography. Celebrate our differences; strike a chord or two with some fine Tasmanian wine.
Photo by Stefany Andrade Unsplash