2025 Dalrymple Pinot Meunier $50

Pinot Meunier accounts for almost exactly one-third of all plantings in Champagne. Slightly more than Chardonnay at 30 percent, but significantly less than Pinot Noir (38 percent). That noted, it's often been regarded as a far less important variety than its high-profile vineyard brethren (except in the Marne Valley, where late budburst makes it less susceptible to spring frosts).

The variety has been in Australia since the 1830s. It's traditionally been a multi-purpose variety, albeit a very minor one, with Best's at Great Western showcasing its virtues as a table wine, thanks to low-yielding 150-year-old wines.

In 2025, just on 780 tonnes of Pinot Meunier were harvested nationwide. That suggests varietal table wines like Dalrymple's current release from the Coal River Valley are rare birds indeed. Pity. Cool climate iterations – especially from Tasmania – provide a bit of a circuit-breaker for consumers looking beyond Pinot Noir. Well-managed sites can produce very more-ish reds for the table. 

(Ditto Gamay. That also warrants further exploration in Tasmania.)

Winemaker Peter Caldwell has done a great job in producing a very attractive medium-bodied red with a bit of pizzazz. In some respects, it's akin to a halfway house between Pinot Noir and Gamay. There's plenty of red fruit, red cherry and even a bit of cola in the aromatics. But underpinning those delicious dark cherry/blueberry flavours is a neatly crafted structure of fine tannins and balancing acidity. The wine's five months in French oak is barely perceptible but it's there doing its job.

Right now, this nifty Dalrymple drinks very well indeed - and should remain peak drinking for another couple of years.

This is the fourth varietal Pinot Meunier the company has produced from vines established at Penna around 2013. It will be fascinating to watch the style evolve as those vines head towards 20 years of age.  

Source: Vineyard event, Dalrymple Unearthed. 14 February 2026

www.dalrymplevineyards.com.au

Last page update: 16 February 2026