Xavier Goodridge Avon Pinot Noir 2024 Mafra Gippsland

Winemaking Notes
Xavier Goodridge Avon Pinot Noir 2024 Mafra Gippsland comes from a single hectare of MV6 Pinot Noir, planted in 1987 at the Avon Vineyard, located in Maffra, Gippsland. These old vines naturally produce lower yields with smaller bunches, contributing to the wine's impressive concentration and depth, with the fruit hand-picked into 15kg baskets and each bunch hand-sorted before being carefully destemmed into fermenters. Fermentation was carried out over 25 days with gentle handling to preserve fruit purity and fine structure, ensuring the wine displays a complex bouquet of spice, herbs, and a basket of red berries with nuances of Italian amaro, Maraschino cherry, sweet basil, and spearmint. After pressing, the wine was transferred to French oak barriques—30% new—where it matured for 10 months, with the texture leafy and chewy, featuring firm tannins and mid-palate concentration of flavours that follows with an aromatic aftertaste and a sour-bitter blood orange combo. It was racked in January and bottled in February 2025, capturing the site's character and vintage expression with clarity and precision, with the careful handling throughout the winemaking process ensuring the wine displays beautiful integration between fruit intensity and spice, creating a refined and sophisticated expression that is simply mouth-wateringly delicious.

Vintage Conditions & Old Vine Character
The 2024 vintage of Xavier Goodridge Avon Pinot Noir showcases the exceptional character of the Avon Vineyard in Maffra, Gippsland, with the single hectare of MV6 Pinot Noir planted in 1987 producing old vines that naturally produce lower yields with smaller bunches, contributing to the wine's impressive concentration and depth. The complex bouquet of spice, herbs, and a basket of red berries hits the nostrils all at once, with nuances of Italian amaro, think Campari and red vermouth, Maraschino cherry, sweet basil, spearmint, licks of cinnamon bark, nutmeg, and kola nut reflecting the quality of the old vines and the careful winemaking approach. The fruit was hand-picked into 15kg baskets with each bunch hand-sorted before being carefully destemmed into fermenters, with fermentation carried out over 25 days with gentle handling to preserve fruit purity and fine structure, whilst the 10 months maturation in French oak barriques—30% new—adds complexity and depth. This wine can be enjoyed now or cellared for 5-7 years, pairing beautifully with duck, roast chicken, grilled salmon, mushroom risotto, and aged brie when served at 14-16°C, demonstrating the exceptional quality and distinctive character that comes from the old vines planted in 1987 at the Avon Vineyard in Maffra, Gippsland, combined with the careful winemaking approach of hand-picking, hand-sorting, gentle fermentation over 25 days, and maturation in French oak barriques before being racked in January and bottled in February 2025.