Appellation Australia

Fast Facts: Country: Australia Region: Mornington Peninsula, Victoria Winemaker: Nick Farr Variety: 100% Pinot Noir Closure: Cork RRP: $35 AU

For my birthday this year, I went to dinner at the brand new Glass restaurant at the refurbished Hilton Sydney. The head chef at Glass is Luke Mangan, well known chef who has opened Sydney restaurants such as Salt, Bistro Lulu and Moorish. The cuisine is Modern Australian with a touch of French influence.

The extensive wine list has been compiled by Master of Wine Dr Ron Georgiou and is comprised of a 65/35 split of Australian and international wines. There are hundreds of wines available by the bottle, and around 15 by the glass.

The wine I selected to be had with dinner was the Farr Rising Mornington Pinot Noir 2003 (there is also a Geelong Pinot Noir under the same label). 2003 was one of the better recent vintages in the Mornington Peninsula region.

Read on to find out some more about Farr Rising and what my thoughts on the wine were.

A little bit about the wine and winery: Farr Rising is the project of Nick Farr, the son of well known winemaker Gary Farr (best known for his work with Bannockburn in Geelong). Hence, the label features an image of a “rising sun”, very clever I thought.

Established: 2001
Production: 1000 cases
Email: kalvos@datafast.net.au

Tasting Note: Superb nose of cherries and rosewood. Was initially lacking slightly in mid-palate length and complexity, but after thirty minutes had opened up and was showing very well across the entire length of the palate. No overt stalky characters, but a touch of spice on the palate to keep things interesting. Excellent overall structure and finish.

Drinking Window: Drinking very well now as a young wine but could gain greater complexity over the next 3-4 years.

Verdict: 93 points, with a value rating of Good.

See “How to interpret my scores” for an explanation of how the above scores were reached.