2024 L'appel Pinot Noir RDJ $48

04/24/2026

L'appel is the brainchild of former Sydney-sider Bart Johnston and his French-born partner, Jess Nuel. Johnston caught the wine bug while working as a restaurant sommelier. His travels abroad – to Montreal (Canada) and the Willamette Valley (USA) in particular – inspired him to take up winemaking, focusing on his passion for cool-climate Pinot Noir.

Johnston and Nuel established L'appel in 2021. This is the couple's third vintage of Pinot Noir from southern Tasmania. (A sibling wine called 'Rouge Gorge' Pinot Noir – from the Huon Valley – was also produced in 2024.)

The wine pays homage to Johnston's father, who sadly passed away in 2022. The subsequent RDJ produced that year was attributed to L'appel's best Pinot Noir, and the tradition has continued to the present-day.

The Coal River Valley – barely 20km from Hobart – is a remarkably dry and warm part of Tasmania, and generally produces well-structured Pinot Noir wines. Sometimes they border on tough and chewy, but no such criticism can be directed towards this release, however.

Yes, it is shaped by fine fruit/oak tannins and lingering acidity, but there's a good deal of elegance and approachability here as well. The colour is spot-on: a vibrant mid-red/cerise hue with the depth and intensity that characterises many Tasmanian Pinot Noirs from the outstanding 2024 vintage. Aromatic red and blue fruits (red cherry, black cherry, cranberry and blueberry) are supported by hints of undergrowth or sassafras forest, the oak well-hidden from view.

The wine was poured alongside a 2022 Burgundy at Hobart's very smart Ogee restaurant, and did not appear at all out-of-place. There was no mistaking the variety or its Antipodean origins, but it quietly did its job well. This is a very attractive and welcome addition to the Tasmanian Pinot Noir scene. Its flavours are perfectly ripe, and well shy of the hefty black fruits and plum characters that sometimes compromise wines from the Coal River Valley, the East Coast and even the Tamar.

Ideally, I'd like a little more length of flavour, but that often comes with the territory. If you want mid-palate weight and texture, go Pinot Noir. If you want exceptional length and structure, drink Cabernet Sauvignon.

Source: Retail purchase, Hobart restaurant