This is next level. Rich cherry, blackcurrant, blackberry and poached plum with clove, nutmeg and some floral notes. Dense and concentrated. The palate shows cigar box and forest floor with more dark fruits. Fine but present tannin. Some oak showing at this early stage. Textured and long. William Downie and I are going to become great friends.
Awards and Accolades
95 Points - Campbell Mattinson, Wine Front "It smells of spring flowers, so pungent they almost smell disturbing. Indeed, let’s not mince words, the nose almost smells sexual. The palate is a different dimension entirely: it’s searingly fresh, cranberried, boysenberried, splashed with beet and rooted with twigs. It’s dry, spicy and seriously firm; it has the intensity of a prosector’s question; it’s a wine of such presence it almost makes you squirm, or fidget. This is the kind of wine JRR Tolkien might have made; it’s an underworld unto itself, simultaneously sordid and soiled and turned brilliantly fresh. The healthiest, most rotten soils often smell sweet and enticing; such is the field this wine hoes."
2013 Vintage: 97 Points - Gourmet Traveller "The colour is quite deep and the bouquet is foresty, sweetly cherry-like and herbal. The palate is rich, dense, succulent and harmonious with a very long finish."
The Winery
William Downie established his own label in 2003 after several years living and working in Burgundy. His intention is to produce wines of purity and detail that reflect their place of origin. They are made in the most natural way possible, not pushed or shoved in any direction. They are not added to or subtracted from. Although each of the William Downie wines is made from Pinot Noir, the Yarra Valley, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland are more different than they are similar. William was the Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine Young Australian Winemaker of The Year for 2006.
