Ossa Pinot Noir 2022

Ossa is one of the most exciting recent projects in Tasmanian wine. Drawing its name from Tasmania’s highest peak – Mount Ossa – it represents a small range of distinguished wines sourced from some of Tasmania’s finest vineyards. Ossa began with Rod and Cecile Roberts’ establishment of their Belbrook farm on the Island’s East Coast. Rod had his eye on the property from earlier agri-business days and knew it’s easterly aspect and ironstone/sandstone soils would be ideal for high quality viticulture. The family embarked on planting a 20- hectare vineyard to a mix of varieties - Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Shiraz, Grüner Veltliner, Pinot Gris, Riesling and Sauvignon Blanc. Committed to sustainability, land at Belbrook has been extensively renovated including removal of noxious plant species, fencing wildlife zones and cleaning waterways. The farm is run exclusively on solar power and they are working towards organic management.

It’s easy to see how the judges at the Australian Pinot Noir challenge fell in love with the inaugural release of Ossa’s 2020 vintage and awarded it the trophy for ‘Top Pinot Noir’ of the year in 2021. The eagerly anticipated 2022 vintage release has just arrived and is everything you want Tasmanian Pinot Noir to be. It shows amazing depth of colour and richness in the glass yet offers beguilingly pretty notes of raspberry coulis, dried red flowers and wood spice (although only 15% of the oak treatment in 500L French puncheons was new) with lovely fleshy fruit richness and silky tannins. It’s concentrated and rewarding yet finely boned and versatile, just like great Pinot should be. It rewards not with overt power, but with gentle persuasion.