Francis Tannahill The Hermit Pinot Noir 2011

Professional Ratings

• 92 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
  From their multi-clonal (multi-root stock) vineyard near Archery Summit's Red Hills Estate, Francis and Tannahill's 2011 Pinot Noir Hermit shares none of the firmness that led me to characterize its 2009 predecessor as austere (though somewhat impressive), and here there is a fascinating wealth of nuance which that wine did not evince (on its one youthful presentation to me, anyway). A greenhouse like amalgam of floral and leafing things – gradually resolving into lovely allusions to iris and violet – vies for aromatic attention with plum and cherry, that go on to inform a juicy, silken-textured, glycerol-rich palate. Hints of wild ginger and iris root along with black tea smokiness and fruit pit piquancy add intrigue as well as invigoration. "All through the Rex Hill portfolio," opines Tannahill, "as well as here, the wines are becoming unforced." I think I’m agreeing with that sentiment at least as regards this "Hermit," when I note that it seems somehow at home in its own skin, certainly with no impression of overt oakiness or over-extraction, but with purity as well as profound length, and the energy and brightness typical for its vintage in balanced harmony with richness and perfume.