Established by Nicolas François in 1818, Billecart Salmon is known within France and around the globe for fashioning the most elegant Champagnes, fully rounded Cuvees with the cleanest palate and eternal, seemingly ageless styling. A Non Vintage assemblage of Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Meunier, expressing characters of biscuit, fruits and nut.

Pinot Meunier like no other, certainly the most distinguished bottling of its kind anywhere in the new world. Mostly old vine Concongella Pinot Meuniere, from grapes picked off parcels established 1970, with the inclusion of a priceless component of ancient vines 1868 Pinot Noir. A legacy of the Victorian Klondike, originally planted with a view to quenching the thirst of pioneer gold miners. Its brooding nose of freshly turned earth, baked spice and potpourri, precede a punchy, savoury palate of gummy red pectin flavours, undulating over a fine, super satin weave of divine, silky tannins.

Amongst the many priceless bequeaths which are part of the Bests portfolio, are an 1868 planting of Pinot vines, probably established with a view to formulating luxury sparklings in the style of Champagne. A small parcel of Pinot Noir amongst the mostly Pinot Meuniere, later identified as a historically significant mix of Swiss and French clones, may very well be the oldest productive Pinot Noir vines in the world today. A pure bottling of these invaluable heirlooms, redolent of strawberries, powerful and intense, old vine Pinot of extraordinary elegance and finesse, silky of tannin and persistent in length.

Gippsland makes remarkable wines, the national flagship Pinot Noir hails from Leongatha, just a few minutes down the road from Bellvale. John Ellis chose his ground well, he established the first Cabernet vines in the prestigious New York Hamptons and worked vintages among the Grand Cru vineyards of Burgundy before settling amongst the dairy paddocks of Gippsland. Stony Block is Bellvale's finest parcel, a powerful yet elegant wine of intense pastoral gameyness, striking balance, exquisite length and captivating poise.

Good Pinot Noir requires a judicious measure of oak to frame the fruit and provide support, Quercas means oak, a reference to the essential influence of barrel age as it serves to coalesce all parts of the wine into a seamless, velvety experience. Pinot Noir also needs to articulate a sense of place, Bellvale's vines are trained to grow deep root systems, extracting the subtle locution of soil and infusing fruit with the unique expression of terroir. Quercas Vineyard makes a pastoral style, ripe with freshly picked cherry, savoury with barnyard and smoked, seasoned game.

Bellvale were established with a view to emulating the great growths of Burgundy, many vintages spent among the vines along Cote d'Or, inspired John Ellis with a consuming passion to make new world wine in the style of the timeless French classics. Terroir and clime are fundamental, identifying the perfect soils where an extended ripening will invigorate the vines and achieve a spectacular quality of fruit. Bellvale makes Pinot Noir in the old fashioned way, allowing the harvest to speak for itself, reminding us that great wine really is made in the vineyard.

Welcome to one of the highest elevation vineyards on Mornington Peninsula, a place of chilly nights and frosty mornings, followed by balmy days of ample sunshine, a confluence of climes which make the site ideal for slowly ripened, fully flavoured Pinot Noir. The finest picks off the best rows of vine are set aside each year for Reserve, redolent of autumnal forest floor, brimming with cherries and ripe red currant, the high altitudes and brisk climes infuse minerality and seamlessness of tannin. Silky and complex, an elegant elocution of a very special place.

Bellingham Estate's Main Ridge vineyards are dry grown and planted to mature, low yielding vines, a wonderful accord of auspicious microclimes and exacting viticulture which creates the most intensely flavoured Mornington Pinot Noir. Hand picked grapes are treated to a cold maceration and wild yeast ferments in open fermenters, followed by a term of age in a mix of seasoned and new French oak barrels. A delicate Pinot Noir of ripe red cherry and freshly milled spice, layered with fine savoury fruit characters and supported by a weave of seamless, velvet tannins.

One of Tasmania's most praiseworthy efforts, Bay of Fires expresses fully the exceptional quality of fruit grown to superior vineyards, nurtured exclusively for the production of world class sparkling wines which exhibit classically structured palates and the most splendid texture. A top shelf effort made to true Methode Traditionelle, Bay of Fires is reverently crafted by the stars of the Hardy winemaking team, rested for years on lees sediment, to develop a luxurious mouthfeel and infuse the wine with elegance, rich fruit character and layers of complexity.

Bay of Fires are artfully crafted to achieve the velvety seamlessness adored by true Pinot files. The small but highly accomplished winemaking team are driven by a philosophy to capture and retain a tight weave of the distinctive and intense fruit expressions from individual vineyards, preserved within the very bottle. After many years developing the finest vineyards across the length and breadth of the apple isle's premiere viticultural precincts, Bay Of Fires can collate parcels from the choicest sites, from which to assemble a spectacular construct of Tasmanian Pinot Noir.

Outstanding Langtons Classification. There are a number of fundamentals at Bass Phillip which define the excellence of the wines. Painfully low yields are non negotiable, rigorous cropping to produce half the fruit of a Grand Cru Burgundy vineyard is essential. A minmalist handling of the ferments to avoid tearing the wine is imperative for retaining textural integrity. A little over half a pound of grapes are selectively picked off the original estate plantings at Leongatha, now over thirty years of age, they are source of Australia's most superior vintages of Pinot Noir.

Phillip Jones was inspired by the great growths of La Belle France, to abondon his career as research scientist and plant Bordeaux varietal clones amongst the pasturelands of Gippsland. All good men of science are persuaded by the facts, a few fruitless vintages convinced Jones to apply his efforts to the noble grapes of Burgundy, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Gamay. Jones makes wine like a shaman, his standards of viticulture are at one with local flora and fauna, for the realization of vintages which are crafted through an analytic focus on the sanctity of the wine's texture.

Exclusively single vineyard Pinot Noir, drawing fruit from extremely low cropped, windswept vines, stimulated by chilly maritime breezes, not far from Phillip Island and Wilson's Promontary. Phillip Jones has been producing icon Australian Pinot Noir from the cool climes of Leongatha at Gippsland for over two decades. A biodynamic, fully organic viticulture is matched by old fashioned, highly artisanal standards of vinification. Much attention is paid to the handling of ferments and movement of the juices, retaining the refinement and textural integrity of the wine.

A bravely accoutred style, from Barringwood's favourite plantings of Pinot Noir, dressed in bright cherry baubles and raspberry robes, framed by curls of cinnamon sasafras oak, underpinned by a bustle of soft taffeta tannins. It's all little vineyard fruit, just a small hectarage of fancy clone Pinot, passionately nurtured by locals born and bred, made to an old fashioned regimen of tranquil winemaking. A measure of whole bunch clusters and extended term in fine French oak, contribute character and complexity to a prepossessing palate of persimmon, plumcot and peacock tails.

From a picturesque planting of Pinot Noir at Lower Barrington, overlooking Don Valley towards mighty Bass Strait, within the maritime crotch of Tasmania's north. At 276 metres above the sea, vines enjoy a perfectly mild growing season, the longest days of sunshine on the apple isle, followed by a cool maritime autumn which infuses grapes with a sensational level of velvetine richness. Expressing winsome violets and vanilla, cherries and chai, giving way to earthy underbrush, elegantly structured, its brightly lit fruit and gentle tannins, seasoned by dustings of savoury spice.

There are very few vineyards which take sparkling wine so seriously as to plant Pinot Meunier, the third grape variety in the holy trinity of the noble Methode Champenoise. Fruit is selectively whole bunch pressed for creamyness and complexity, mollified by malolactic, stirred for palate richness and filled to sediments bottle for three full years yeast lees maturation. Brimming with brioche, apricots and apple flan, its largess of indulgent fruit charactors and beguling perfumes, undulate and evolve along a long, fine bead of crunchy stonefruit flavours, creme fondant and crisp minerality.

A Piccadilly Valley flagship, recipient of the most impressive accolades since inaugural release. Fine and elegant, displaying intensely complex varietal character of dark cherry, strawberries, spices and game, with wonderful length and intensity of colour. The palate is rich and voluptuous, the tannins soft and silky, the aftertaste long and lingering. Most of the grapes are sourced from vines at Uley Vineyard which were planted in 1983 and are now expressing their maturity. Like all great wines, Barratt is made in the vineyard and assembled from the best of barrels of vintage.

Distinguished Langtons Classification. One of Australia's finest Pinot Noir, from low yielding vineyards on the maritime influenced terroirs near Geelong, by a winemaker wholly committed to Burgundian vinification techniques. Aromatic with dark cherry and spicy vanilla oak, a velvety palate of pastoral and plum. A wine of concentration, power and structure, with unmistakable varietal charm, more muscular and rich than it's euro antecedants, exhibiting piquant stalkyness as well as a Bourgogne gameyness, rarely found in Australian Pinot.

A fusion of Balgownie's splendid Bendigo Shiraz with a component of fruit forward Pinot Noir grown to the estate vineyard in Yarra Valley. Hand picked grapes are lightly pressed, steeped briefly on skins to infuse the wine with a delicate salmon hue and treated to a cool fermentation for the retention of vibrant fresh fruit flavours and bouquet.

Balgownie's Yarra Valley vineyards were planted in 2003 to Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, with a view to exploiting the slow ripening temperate climes and rich soils of the region for the creation of exquisite and stylish sparkling wines. Vinified to a combination of new and old world winemaking techniques, the tradtional cepage of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir is partially barrel fermented in seasoned oak before being treated to a term of extended lees contact, infusing the palate with rich yeasty brioche characters and refined textural creaminess.