WA’s finest Pinot (pt 1)

As we slowly meander through life, one is drawn (often without reasoning) to things of certain intrigue. Often these things become a specific passion, occasionally an obsession. For me personally, one of those passions has been wine, and although quixotic, I have been drawn quite specifically to West Australian Pinot Noir.

On cursory glance, this notoriously fussy and delicate cultivar is not overtly suited here. However when one digs a little deeper it becomes clear that in very certain pockets, in very specific places, if tended by the right grower, wines can be made that will quite genuinely knock your socks off. These wines tend to be made in tiny quantities, snapped up eagerly and quickly by the cognoscenti and lost to history.

Over many years, but particularly in the last twelve months, I’ve been lucky enough to taste spectacular wines spanning twenty-five years of age, through to young wines made from ever maturing vines that showcase the vision of those who decided to plant there and be patient. I’ve tasted and talked about wines from young producers with passion and knowledge, and with many great wines ahead of them. I’ve also tasted spellbinding wines from older producers whose intimate knowledge of their vineyard, learned over many years have translated recently into some quite ethereal bottlings indeed. I’m looking forward to telling these stories, slowly and through an inquisitive lens, in the hope of understanding why these wines are the way they are.

Part One – Out on a Limb Wines.

Long before the Kalgan River gets notice that it is slowly snaking towards the Southern Ocean it passes an isolated property, perched on the edge of a mildly rolling hill ascending towards the river. The property is called Out on a Limb and from this patch of land they are, all of sudden it seems, making some of WA’s most convincing Pinot Noir.

On this property lies a tiny, East facing vineyard, planted predominantly to Burgundian Clones of Pinot Noir (777 & 115). Conventional wisdom is that the ideally sited vineyards in the area face predominantly North, in order to capture the most of the sun. But here the vines face East, thus benefitting from a milder sun during the day, and prolonged ripening conditions into the night thanks to the quartz in the soil, which captures that warmth and distributes is gently and persistently. In addition, this site though protected from the wind, also benefits from its proximity to the cool Southern Ocean. Thus all in all, we have some of WA’s slowest, most gentle ripening conditions. And subsequently sampling the fruit at vintage in 2022, it was genuinely exciting to taste these incredible, naunced flavours developing at low baume levels.

The vineyard itself is the antithesis of large-scale farming: there are no tractors (they wouldn’t fit down the closely planted rows anyway) and every task is painstakingly done by hand. I’ve walked through many vineyards in my time and never seen one with such personality. Each post is unique, each vine has its own character. Rows of bush vines bask in the sun, patiently awaiting trellising, and the opportunity to contribute their own personality to the Grand Vin. It almost has the feel of a scrapbook come to life. A collage of photos and memories pieced together to share a complete story.

The People

I first met the vigneron Ben Carmody at vintage at a different winery: we both had a week free to help out. Imposing at well over six foot tall, he had just arrived and strolled in while we were having lunch one day after a long mornings picking, with a box of wine under one arm.  Almost as an afterthought he placed a bottle of his 2018 that he’d brought in on the table, “help yourselves”. As it was, I was already quite taken with the wine when he asked – almost hopingly – ‘what do you think, is this any good?’. Often in these moments you dig deep for the most, correct, most polite phrasing you can muster: “its an interesting wine” is often my go-to for something barely palatable. But no such pleasantries were required here: the wine was great. The potential was obvious.

Subsequently, I’ve visited Out on a Limb a few times since that bottle, including participating in a day of vintage this year. Whilst Ben manages the vineyard, his erudite partner Dee (who has a great taste in TV!) steers the ship from the office. Both however, play second fiddle to two Maremmas who (along with a few cats) feauture on the label. Working in places as diverse as Freycinet (East Coast of Tasmania) and Dukes, in the nearby Porongurups have no doubt shaped Bens view on wines, which tend very strongly towards lighter styles where finesse and picture perfect fruit are highly valued. Wines where there the fruit has nowhere to hide, not behind massive alcohol or oak or ripeness. His palate is quite sharp in picking up the little nuances that differentiate between a really special, elegant expression of pure fruit as opposed to simpler, lighter (generally sweeter) styles. The line is fine: this is Pinot Noir after all! Whatever his passion for wine is though, it is well and truly usurped by his love of the ocean and riding the surf.

The Ocean

The commonality between making great Pinot Noir and those exhilarating moments you can have surfing surely makes sense when you think about it. Both require an incredible level of skill: without which there can be no success. But this is alone not enough, and only the most precise locations and specific weather conditions can produce those opportunities. When the skill of the operator, and these precise conditions combine, these sensual moments of pure bliss, quite unlike any other can arise. And the chase for these moments, however fleeting has hijacked many a life and sent it on a path of chasing the perfect wave, or the satisfaction of the aromas and pure perfection of the finest of Burgundys. Moments that can sustain you for a long period of time, through many days hard work in the vineyard, or frustrating runs of corked bottles or wines that for some reason or another just don’t have that ‘life’ to them. Or on the other hand, long drives chasing conditions, hours of hard work paddling out and still not quite getting that special moment that will sustain you till the next great wave.

The Wines

Out on a Limb Pinot Noir 2021

Wafts out of the glass rather nicely indeed, with brightly pitched red fruits. Pomegranate, cherries and rose petals all compete for your attention, evoking a curious bee exploring the garden on the finest of spring days. These flavours combine with some darker fruits, giving the palate quite a wide spectrum, deeply convincing and greater than the sum of its parts.

But this is still a young wine, as evident by the sturdy, slightly powdery tannic backbone that guides a particularly savoury finish. Over a longer interval, the wine tended even more savoury whilst retaining a supple elegance. The key here, perhaps, is the 12.5 alc, enabling a wine of genuine complexity whilst avoiding those riper, sweeter, more simple flavours.

An exciting wine that hints at what I’m sure the 2022 will confirm: this is a plot of vines with real potential.