Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report - June 2023
This eponymous winery was founded by winemaker Martin Shaw and Master of Wine Michael Hill Smith in 1989 in the Adelaide Hills. The team currently owns 145 acres in Lenswood, Piccadilly, and Balhannah. This 2021 vintage is medium bodied with aromas of black raspberry, red cherry, and candied orange peel. In the mouth there are dark fruit flavors such as cassis and black plum, but with a touch of brown baking spices that take the lead before the seductive finish.
Matthew Jukes - 100 Best Australian Wine Report 2022/2023 - November 2023
The fruit is bold, dark, heady and fairly spicy, and it is already into its stride with smooth flanks studded with 20% whole bunch intrigue. It is great to have Shaw + Smith nailing their Pinot Noir because their reputation precedes them, and this should enable more Hills Pinot to penetrate the market, alerting keen consumers to this unique style of wine.
Nathan Slone - Jamessuckling.com - October 2022
A beautifully crafted pinot, as always, with focused fruit, subtle undertones of cedar and leather and hints of foie gras. It’s full-bodied, but not heavy, with plenty of tension and focus. Bright acidity with depth and length. Impressive. 95 Points
Andrew Caillard MW - The Vintage Journal - September 2022
Medium crimson. Intense strawberry, red cherry, herb garden, hint dried roses aromas and underlying savoury notes. Lovely pure juicy strawberry, red cherry fruits, fine chalky, hint al-dente textures, very good mid-palate viscosity, and integrated savoury/roasted hazelnut notes. Finishes slinky and long. Extremely fine with attractive colour, definition, complexity and volume. Drink now or keep for a while. 96+ Points.
James Halliday - The Weekend Australian - June 2022
Already a serious complex pinot, high-strung aromas of spice and forest floor providing the parameters of palate that builds intensity as it moves triumphant peacock’s tail finish. 97 Points.
Andrew Graham - Australian Wine Review - May 2022
After many vintages of either a) edging too far into dry red territory or b) flopping back the other way and looking too lean. But this vintage, like the last couple, is just excellent. The best I can remember. Fruit source has been an important change, with the backbone of this Pinot now Lenswood fruit. What a lovely wine it is too – bright ruby coloured, a little purple even. Great nose – it’s varietal, it’s delicate, it’s red-fruited and raspberried and fresh. There is flashes of vanilla bean oak. The mid-palate is the driver here – it’s almost Grenache like in its glossy red fruit. Excellent balance through the finish – just enough acidity, just enough tannins. Sound the bugles, this is a fucking triumph. 95 Points.
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front - April 2022
Love the tannin structure of this wine. It feels both perfumed and inlaid with fruit, but more impressively it sheets across the wine in a wide spread, integrated and balanced while at the same time being assertive. It gives the wine a bit of class, not that it lacked it in the first place. This is a polished release, with varietal red berries fruit flavours splashed with earth, chicory and dry spice. It’s ultra primary now, as you’d expect, but it feels settled, and so it’s already drinking well. Fruit and the formation of tannin here though are its main quality markers. 93+ Points.
Jeni Port - Halliday Wine Companion - December 2021
Arrives as a fully-fledged pinot noir, complex and intriguing. Starts with a wealth of dark fruits, forest floor, bracken, earthy notes and woodsy spice, before launching into a sweeping, textural palate, glossy and even. Oak adds some extra creamy, spicy complexity and, boy it runs long. 94 Points.
Mike Desimone and Jeff Jenssen, Robb Report - June 2023
This eponymous winery was founded by winemaker Martin Shaw and Master of Wine Michael Hill Smith in 1989 in the Adelaide Hills. The team currently owns 145 acres in Lenswood, Piccadilly, and Balhannah. This 2021 vintage is medium bodied with aromas of black raspberry, red cherry, and candied orange peel. In the mouth there are dark fruit flavors such as cassis and black plum, but with a touch of brown baking spices that take the lead before the seductive finish.
Matthew Jukes - 100 Best Australian Wine Report 2022/2023 - November 2023
The fruit is bold, dark, heady and fairly spicy, and it is already into its stride with smooth flanks studded with 20% whole bunch intrigue. It is great to have Shaw + Smith nailing their Pinot Noir because their reputation precedes them, and this should enable more Hills Pinot to penetrate the market, alerting keen consumers to this unique style of wine.
Nathan Slone - Jamessuckling.com - October 2022
A beautifully crafted pinot, as always, with focused fruit, subtle undertones of cedar and leather and hints of foie gras. It’s full-bodied, but not heavy, with plenty of tension and focus. Bright acidity with depth and length. Impressive. 95 Points
Andrew Caillard MW - The Vintage Journal - September 2022
Medium crimson. Intense strawberry, red cherry, herb garden, hint dried roses aromas and underlying savoury notes. Lovely pure juicy strawberry, red cherry fruits, fine chalky, hint al-dente textures, very good mid-palate viscosity, and integrated savoury/roasted hazelnut notes. Finishes slinky and long. Extremely fine with attractive colour, definition, complexity and volume. Drink now or keep for a while. 96+ Points.
James Halliday - The Weekend Australian - June 2022
Already a serious complex pinot, high-strung aromas of spice and forest floor providing the parameters of palate that builds intensity as it moves triumphant peacock’s tail finish. 97 Points.
Andrew Graham - Australian Wine Review - May 2022
After many vintages of either a) edging too far into dry red territory or b) flopping back the other way and looking too lean. But this vintage, like the last couple, is just excellent. The best I can remember. Fruit source has been an important change, with the backbone of this Pinot now Lenswood fruit. What a lovely wine it is too – bright ruby coloured, a little purple even. Great nose – it’s varietal, it’s delicate, it’s red-fruited and raspberried and fresh. There is flashes of vanilla bean oak. The mid-palate is the driver here – it’s almost Grenache like in its glossy red fruit. Excellent balance through the finish – just enough acidity, just enough tannins. Sound the bugles, this is a fucking triumph. 95 Points.
Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front - April 2022
Love the tannin structure of this wine. It feels both perfumed and inlaid with fruit, but more impressively it sheets across the wine in a wide spread, integrated and balanced while at the same time being assertive. It gives the wine a bit of class, not that it lacked it in the first place. This is a polished release, with varietal red berries fruit flavours splashed with earth, chicory and dry spice. It’s ultra primary now, as you’d expect, but it feels settled, and so it’s already drinking well. Fruit and the formation of tannin here though are its main quality markers. 93+ Points.
Jeni Port - Halliday Wine Companion - December 2021
Arrives as a fully-fledged pinot noir, complex and intriguing. Starts with a wealth of dark fruits, forest floor, bracken, earthy notes and woodsy spice, before launching into a sweeping, textural palate, glossy and even. Oak adds some extra creamy, spicy complexity and, boy it runs long. 94 Points.
