Recognition

It’s a firm, fragrant, spice-riddled pinot noir with blueberry and macerated cherry notes shot through with aromatic herb notes. In fact it’s quite earthen, almost beetroot-like, with a sweetness to the finish in the context of its dry/earthen style. This …

2017 gave Foggy Hill the growing season and vintage it craved for. In terms of varietal character, texture, structure, balance and length, the wine can’t be faulted. It is by some distance the best Foggy Hill Pinot Noir made to …

Foggy Hill is located on the Fleurieu Peninsula, and is one of the coldest places on the Australian mainland. It creates a very unique style of Australian Pinot – particularly savoury, spicy and even meaty wines. The wines are also …

The 2018 Foggy Hill Vineyard “Definitus” Pinot Noir is a blend of Clones 115 and 777 from a strip of vines over the site’s shallowest soils. Winemaking is similar to the rest of the vineyard’s production, and maturation takes place …

More floral and ethereal in character than the sturdier 2018, the 2019 Pinot Noir Foggy Hill Vineyard delivers notes of fresh herbs, black tea, roses, cherries and cranberries. Medium-bodied and silky in texture, it also weighs in with 0.8% alcohol …

Medium to deep ruby colour with purple tints and a complex bouquet of smoky, vegetal, possibly whole-bunch fermented characters, some notes of char-grilled vegetables, all melded with raspberry-like fruit aromas. Hints of humus and Campari. The wine is intense and …

Bright and vibrant ruby colour from core to rim. Black cherry, iodine, smoke and vegetable broth aromatics. Intense from the palate entry, dark cherry fruit shows early then morphs into multiple savoury layers of smoke, meat and undergrowth. Quite mouth-filling, …

I can’t help but think that warmer years are helping Foggy Hill. Not that the wines from cooler years are not delicious, but they are generally quite savoury and need some time to put flesh on their bones. But no …

Cool site, warm year, as Brian Croser pitches it in the accompanying letter – detailed, and insightful as ever – with the sample.
An expressly aromatic take on Pinot Noir: Chinese five spice, sandalwood, something Plum like, a touch of

An elite microcosm of the Foggy Hill site. The best strip, so to speak. I prefer this to the ’17. More integrated, compact, layered and detailed. The tension, curtailing the ripe and inherently sweet fruit. The oak, tannic extract and judicious whole …

A broad patina of sous-bois, pickled cherry and fecund strawberry, aged judiciously in French oak (30%). Silky, with a gentle rasp of herb-inflected tannins and saline maritime acidity.…

There are four hectares of pinot noir growing on the Foggy Hill vineyard; this is from a one-hectare strip. It’s planted at a density of 4444 vines/hectare, using clones 115 and 777, all planted on rootstock. It’s light, firm and

Something akin to a block level wine off the Fleurieu’s Foggy Hill Vineyard. The Definitus strip being a sub-Ridge formed where ferruginuous sandstone comes close to the surface. The strip also marks a delineation between two rows of two Bernard

This is smoky and savoury, scented with dried herb and dried flowers like the regular Foggy Hill, but with a little more density, flesh and concentration. Very savoury and quite delicious, the finish long and harmonious.
94 points

Nice depth to the colour. instantly smoky, peaty, charry nose. Cloves and rosemary wrestle with graphite and a charming tease of mulberry fruit. Tannins are chalky. This needs time
90 Points

A rather delightful pinot with simply wonderful, bright raspberries and brambleberries, as well as fresh-pastry notes. The palate has a fresh, light and lithe feel with gently peppery nuances and firm, long, fruit-soaked tannins. Drink or hold. 

93 points…

Does nothing to supress my urge to visit this site. Looking very good this 2017 vintage, even if it warmer than average – not always great for the variety at hand – but the seasonal warmth only tells one aspect,

2017 was a warmer than average year at Foggy Hill but the wine wasn’t harvested until late March, early April. This is arguably the best Foggy Hill Pinot Noir I’ve seen. It’s fragrant, it’s pretty, it’s well formed and then

A cooler vintage that shows a wealth of brambly forest characters, spiced charcuterie,clean and bright violet-like dried flowers and graphite. The palate is very plush with some deeper nuances and mushroom, too. Refined, fresh, lively and supple brambly cherries as …

A slightly warmer than average vintage. The nose has a bright and fresher floral edge with fresh violets. There is also an edge of brambly forest floor. The palate has a very plush and long, dark cherries. The fine tannins …

A very complex array of dried flowers such as roses and violets. Subtly savory dark cherries and earthy fruits, as well as some graphite, coal smoke and savory, dark and stony nuances. The palate is very nicely wrapped in spicy …

Has the emerging signature of coal smoky savoriness (30% whole bunches) and dried flowers here. Violets and roses with a cooler on average vintage. Mulberries and red cherries with an impressive depth. The palate has the expressive, lively finish, and …

I like the floral violets and roses with charcoal and a sweet array of silky, plush and very even-paced fruit. Ripe red cherries and boysenberries, and plush, ribbon-like tannins. Things are more groomed, fluid and succinct with composed and elegantly …

Serious pinot noir from industry veteran Brian Croser and his team at Tapanappa. The Definitus is made in tiny quantities from fruit grown on a one-hectare strip of the Foggy Hill vineyard on the Fleurieu Peninsula, south of Adelaide. It …