Hoddles Creek Estate PSB Pinot Noir 2022

Hoddles Creek PSB Pinot Noir is sourced from a one-hectare close-planted block adjacent to the 1er Pinot Noir block across the road from the original Hoddles Creek property. It’s a south-facing plot, planted in 2014 to MV6 and Pommard clones. The terraced rows lie on duplex clay and are planted at 0.5 x 1.7-metre spacing, as compared to the 1.5 x 2.7 average spacing across the rest of the property. Though it sits next to the 1er vines, the two wines are, in Franco’s words, “like chalk and cheese. The PSB carries less crop, so there’s more concentration and richness compared to the fine and linear 1er.”
The handpicked fruit was destemmed and fermented as whole berries in 3,000-litre upright wooden vats. Franco favours the wood for its ability to maintain a consistent temperature after fermentation, facilitating slow extraction of tannins and concentration. Franco tastes the ferments every six hours to ensure the wine is pressed when it has the perfect tannin structure. The wine is matured in barriques (25% new) for 10 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Another win for the Hoddles Creek team; “serious stuff” is right!