The Basket Town Pinot Noir is a blend of parcels from the Piccadilly Valley. Its intention is to show the subtle complexity of red fruits and acid structure freshness that makes the Piccadilly Valley pinot so attractive. The Basket Town Pinot Noir this year is from 4 parcels of fruit: The Cemetery Block, grown by Jenny and Jaime Griggs in Uraidla, The Ridge Road Vineyard in Ashton, grown by Dave Fresci, the Deanery Vineyard, grown by Alan Dean in The Piccadilly, and the Commune of Buttons Vineyard, in Basket Range.

The yields for the Pinot Noir were down 50 to 80% across the board so the decision this year was to co-ferment the parcels together with 3 tonnes yielded in total. The grapes were picked late march, but a cooler ripening season meant that the potential alcohol was low across all the parcels, although the phenolic ripeness and acidity were excellent.

At harvest the fruit was chilled then destemmed with 10% whole bunches. The ferment was pressed at 21 days and the wine run to puncheons and barriques. The elevage was for 8 months on full lees. The wine was blended and aged for a further 2 months in tank. The result is a wine that has a brambly core but is pretty with excellent natural acidity, it is distinctively Pinot Noir with cherries and herbaceous notes. – Commune of Buttons