International Pinot Noir Day falls on August 18 each year, and as one of Australia and New Zealand's most popular varieties, it's well deserving of this celebration.
With the first use of the grape's name being recorded in 1375, pinot noir is an ancient and enduring variety that is complex to grow and produce. However, luckily for us, it is very easy to drink and is the most food-friendly of the red wines, making it the perfect variety to drink this winter.
Whether you're pouring a glass to celebrate the variety's big day, looking for the next bottle to add to your cellar or searching for the perfect gift for the wine lover in your life, the list below has 11 pinot noir wines for you to explore. From regions including the Yarra Valley, Marlborough, the Adelaide Hills and the Macedon Ranges you're bound to find a bottle you'll love.
Make sure you have a read through each wine's Halliday tasting notes, and click the 'buy now' links to shop directly from the producers.
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Pinot Noir Wines to try
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Medhurst
Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2025
Yarra ValleyHand picked from two blocks, one north-facing and one partially south-facing. 20% whole bunches. A deep crimson purple. Highly aromatic with red and black fruits, anise, floral notes and a gentle earthiness. Concentrated, with ripe, persistent, graphite-like tannins and excellent length. Will develop beautifully over the next eight to 10 years. -
Hesket Estate
Pinot Noir 2023
Macedon RangesGet out the good glasses, this wine deserves it. Brings a deep, essence-like quality to the glass in scents of aromatic rose and violet, rose hip, pressed flowers, black cherry, Damson plum and bramble with a flourish of dried herbs. Oozes finesse. Fills the palate with a deep concentration of beautifully ripe red fruits dressed artfully in spice, dried herbs and carried across the tongue in firm, fine tannins. Oak toast builds an extra layer of interest. The result is a wine of hidden power and great elegance. -
Novum
Quarters Vineyard Pinot Noir 2024
MarlboroughA considered wine with balance and articulate detail of dark cherries, pomegranate and raspberry leaf. Its small portion of whole bunch almost outlines the ripe fruit, adding a stencil of sage and rosemary that brings the fruit into focus. Some savoury new oak, cedar, chewing tobacco and mace round out the finish. The crowning glory is the thistle and underbrush that pulls and stretches the final flavours of the wine. Some Swiss brown mushrooms and cherry pits. Still very fresh and full of energy. -
Commune of Buttons
Estate Pinot Noir 2025
Adelaide Hills100% destemmed, with nine months in new and old barrique. A silky, slinky little number with vibrancy knit within. Speaks well of its place, quintessentially Adelaide Hills, in black cherry clafoutis and raspberry powder, laced with Campari. It's elegant, the acids, fruit and tannins aligned. The finish is gently sweet fruited, with notes of plum, cedar and pine, a smattering of Middle Eastern spice, sumac and cardamom through the finish. Very good. -
Commune of Buttons
Gloria Block Pinot Noir 2025
Piccadilly Valley30-year-old vine age on show here. 10% whole bunch, 20% new French barrique for 8 months. This is a concentrated wine with cranberry-led acids, satsuma plum, black cherry and graphite. Sumac and toasted cumin. It's lifted, high energy, and has a botanical, earthy spine. Flatbreads, wood-fire roasted lamb and pomegranate certainly wouldn't hurt as a pairing. -
Tamar Ridge
Single Block Rosevears Pinot Noir 2024
TasmaniaPinot sourced from a single block next to the Tamar Ridge cellar door, clone 115. There's a lovely composition here, a graceful travel, with a long draw of red and sour cherry, raspberry and red berry fruits, cut with mixed spice, light game tones, some distant crushed herbs and lightly smoked meats, wildflowers and turned earth. The raspberry tones turn up in spades on the palate, which shows gentle tannin chew and a bright mineral line. -
Isabel Estate
Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2024
MarlboroughFruit is sourced from the Isabel Estate vineyard in the Wairau Valley. A mix of clones, hand picked and fermented separately, 80% destemmed, 20% whole bunches. Matured in 30% new French oak and seasoned barrels. It aged on fine lees for 11 months. There is captivating new oak here, but with that comes a storm of dark plum, cherries and woodsy spice. A bar of bitter chocolate and long black coffee. Some poppy seed and clove. The chew of tannins goes hand in hand with the richness of spice and deluxe fruit. All in all, this is a robust Marlborough pinot noir that will have longevity in the cellar. -
Josef Chromy Wines
Pinot Noir 2024
TasmaniaMid-ruby with wild strawberry, red cherry, raspberry and redcurrant fruits, hints of Medina spice, crushed herbs, broken rock, charcuterie, citrus blossom and leaf litter. Medium bodied, spacious and airy, with fine-grained tannins and a bright, plum-skin acidity driving things along nicely. Real bright, light drinking here. -
Tamar Ridge
Research Series Pinot Noir 2022
TasmaniaTamar Valley pinot noir with whole bunch and carbonic maceration matured in 15% new French oak for nine months. This seems less bunchy than the last time I saw it. There's still exotic spice tones that lie beneath the ripe red cherry, plum and raspberry fruits, but it reveals itself more in a sapid and textural mouthfeel. There's a slide of sour cherry, amaro, roast game and pressed wildflowers on the finish, with just the right amount of powdery tannin sinew. -
Tamar Ridge
Reserve Pinot Noir 2023
TasmaniaA selection of the best parcels from the Tamar Ridge Kayena vineyard. Mid-ruby with finely honed red and dark cherry fruits with hints of red plum, raspberry, exotic spice, wet earth, some light reduction, judicious nutty oak, purple flowers and undergrowth. A fine, stony acid line provides slick travel for the ripe, spicy fruit, with gentle powdery tannins in support. -
De Bortoli
The Estate Vineyard Pinot Noir 2024
Yarra ValleyScores high on both immediate drinkability and smart pricing. Captures the pinot noir grape in all of its bouncy, fresh, cherry-fruited brightness. Aromas set the scene well – violet florals, a splash of red licorice spice amid red plums, cherries and blueberries. Very summery, and the palate reflects it all succinctly with just a touch of lifted confection. Clean, brisk acidity helps send the energy levels high. What's not to like?
Top image credit: De Bortoli.
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