2024 Chatto Intrigue $80

11/02/2025

When you devote your entire wine business to one variety - in a very cool and very marginal winegrowing district - you've got to get it right. And Jim and Daisy Chatto have been doing it right since day one on their property at Glaziers Bay, south of Hobart. Almost 20 years ago.

The first plantings of eight clones of Pinot Noir on their 1.5ha Isle Vineyard began back in 2007. Vine age is a key determinant of wine quality. As vine roots find their way deeper and deeper into their cool damp environment, the resulting wines begin to reveal more and more of the site's unique character, or terroir if you like. Growing season rainfall in vintage 2024 was well below average - around 330mm on the Dillons Road property - and followed a vintage that had even lower rainfall. Little wonder then that this Intrigue has far greater depth of colour than we're used to seeing in these Chatto wines.

The aromatics are similarly intense, with plenty of red fruits spanning the strawberry to black cherry spectrum, as well as a little cranberry and some Asian spices. The flavours are very attractive indeed. It's one of those dangerous wines that seemingly evaporate not long after opening and you're tempted to open a second bottle. For all that, there's a wonderful sense of elegance and grace here. The tannins are very fine and ripe, the acidity perfectly judged.

As delightful as this wine is to drink at the moment, it will be better served by a good spell in a cool dark cellar. Who knows how long its improvement phase will be? One thing's for sure - it will be one helluva journey finding out.

Source: Cellar door during Spring in the Vines, Wine South, October 2025