Mandala Wines Yarra Valley Pinot Noir 2020
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Wilfred
Wong -
Wine
Enthusiast
Product Details
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Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A bright and complex aromatic profile displaying notes of pomegranate, dried strawberry and star anise with hints of blue fruit, crushed violet, fresh tobacco and truffle. A finely structured palate offers textural generosity with notes of red currant and dark cherry integrating well with supportive oak spice. Refreshing natural acidity gives the wine drive and line leading into a long and persistent finish.
Professional Ratings
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2020 Mandala Pinot Noir is aromatic and perky on the palate. TASTING NOTES: This wine delivers aromas and flavors of dried red fruit, mineral notes, and savory spices. Enjoy it with grilled lamb chops. (Tasted: April 3, 2022, San Francisco, CA)
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Wine Enthusiast
This is a ripe, clean, ultra fruity Pinot. Bouncy red berries dominate, underpinned by florals (stalks included) and a savory, charcuterie nuance. Aromas flow into flavors on the palate, which is lightweight and has a gentle line of lightly savory tannins. A modern Aussie red for sipping chilled on a warm day
Thin-skinned, finicky and temperamental, Pinot Noir is also one of the most rewarding grapes to grow and remains a labor of love for some of the greatest vignerons in Burgundy. Fairly adaptable but highly reflective of the environment in which it is grown, Pinot Noir prefers a cool climate and requires low yields to achieve high quality. Outside of France, outstanding examples come from in Oregon, California and throughout specific locations in wine-producing world. Somm Secret—André Tchelistcheff, California’s most influential post-Prohibition winemaker decidedly stayed away from the grape, claiming “God made Cabernet. The Devil made Pinot Noir.”
As the most important area of wine production in Victoria today, the Yarra Valley is most popular for Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, which account for over half of vineyard acreage. A gentle, rolling and rural region alongside the Margaret River, the Yarra Valley has a cool maritime climate with a lengthy growing season, perfect for these cool-climate varieties.
Two styles of Pinot Noir are possible here. The warmer Lower Yarra Valley with sandy, loam soils, produces plush and fruity Pinot Noir while the cooler, higher-elevation Upper Yarra Valley with soils of young red basalt, produces more angular and mineral-driven Pinot Noir.
Yarra Valley Chardonnay is among the best in Australia. To preserve the floral aromatics and fresh citrus flavors for which this area’s Chardonnay is so appreciated, time in barrel is restrained (though barrel fermentation is common). The best Yarra Valley Chardonnays display brilliant acidity, leesy characteristics, citrus, stone fruit and flavors of ginger and spice.
Shiraz and Cabernet find success in parts of this region as well.