2024 Anim Pinot Blanc $50

Max Marriott is making impressive wines in minute quantities in the State's south. Brisbane-born, he first made a name for himself in New Zealand by crafting six vintages (2009-2014) of critically acclaimed Central Otago Riesling under the Auburn label. His family's move to Tasmania in 2018 was surely a stroke of good fortune for the island's cool climate wine industry.

Fruit for this wine is sourced from Clarence House Estate, near Rokeby, on Hobart's Eastern Shore. Pinot Blanc has had little to say for itself so far in Tasmania, but this barrel-fermented white sings sweetly, like a bird. 

Mid-weight stone fruit notes are delivered in the smooth, beautifully rounded manner typical of the variety's Gris cousin. The oak component is very nicely handled, the wine's time in barrel more about building texture than adding artifice. It's not a wine to 'ooh and ahh' about, as much as I admire the great work Max has done in fashioning this PB. It's simply a means to an end... it's all about providing good drinking. (Job done. It's very nice indeed.)

Source: Retail purchase. 

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