Wine Reviews
Elanto Vineyard Estate Pinot Noir
2024
"What a beguiling wine – only the second release and showing complexity far beyond its years. It’s certainly youthful and pretty with heady aromas of florals and autumn leaves with flavours of wild strawberries, dark cherries and pips, chinotto, Middle Eastern spices and some poached rhubarb, too. The medium-bodied palate is evenly poised, laden with filigree tannins (lots of them) and energising acidity; oak (25% new) completely integrated. This has depth, some grip, a little amaro bitterness on the finish and, of utmost importance, it will age but it’s oh-so pleasing to drink today. 97 Points.”
- Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, August 2025
“Medium full depth of garnet colour; there are complex earthy, sousbois and roasting-pan aromas, while the palate bursts with sweet dark-cherry to blackberry flavours, rich and succulent, with a swelling peacock's tail of spicy cherry flavours, mouth-filling and long, a great pinot noir with panache and charm, and the structure to reward long ageing. Utterly delicious. 97/100.”
- Huon Hooke, The Real Review, May 2026
“The intensity of fruit here is fantastic, as is the length of the finish, as is the tannin profile. This wine is out of the ordinary on these matters alone. It tastes of stewed red and black cherries, peppercorns, cedar and undergrowth, the dry crackle of the finish – yet sluiced with fruit – one for the ages. The slightest degree of warmth is my only hesitation; in all other respects this is superb. 95 points.”
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, September 2025
2023
"Never in a million years would I pick the vine age given the detail and complexity here. Fruit off four-year-old vines. Quite astonishing and yet, proof is in the glass. Full of heady aromatics, all florals and wood spice with flavours of dark cherries, cherry compote, and poached rhubarb, but it’s not at all fruity as it also comes with a hint of charred radicchio and Italian-bitter herbs. There’s an energy across the just medium-bodied palate, a little sinewy yet savoury through and through with the fine, and plentiful, tannins taking charge as it finishes long and convincingly. 95 points."
- Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, June 2024
"There’s a lot going on with this Pinot Noir but it manages to feel effortless. Seamless is the word; finished is another. Campari-like herbs, roasted nuts, earth, undergrowth and sweet black cherries, the latter deep-set in Pinot Noir terms. There’s an excellent framework of tannin, firm and velvety at once, dry strings splayed out across a mesh made of hazelnuts. This wine became more expansive as it rested in the glass. This is the first Pinot Noir grown and made from this vineyard. It’s an exciting debut, with an even more exciting future. 95 points."
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, August 2024
Elanto Vineyard Estate Chardonnay
2024
"A terrific follow up to the inaugural release, coming out with more weight and body. Mid-straw gold and bright. Floral and waxy with lemon, spiced stone fruit, brown spices and honeycomb – lots within yet definitely in the savoury spectrum. Fuller bodied, rich, almost al dente with its phenolics and layers of texture via creamy, nutty lees. It’s detailed yet supple, with a succulence thanks to the all-important uplifting acidity. Moreish and compelling. 96 Points.”
- Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, August 2025
“Bright mid yellow colour; buttered crusty bread aromas, croissant, shortbread and underlying lemon/citrus intensity that really carries the palate. Good concentration of flavour that powers through a very long finish. Generous oak but also lots of detail, and the wine has power and elegance together. Very impressive Burgundy-style chardonnay. 97/100”
- Huon Hooke, The Real Review, May 2026
“This is seriously good. The intensity of fruit is the thing, and the associated length, though there’s a keen textural element and just plenty of wow factor besides. Yellow peach, citrus, nougat, honeycomb and lemon blossom notes charge thoughout. There’s a lot of fruit, a deal of acidity, and a sizeable serve of oak, but all work together and all feel commanding. 96 Points”
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, August 2025
2023
"The inaugural release and it’s a beauty. It entices immediately with aromas of citrus blossom, ginger flower, struck flint, and warm woody spices. There’s a savouriness within alongside grapefruit and pith with lemon-infused creamy lees, grilled nuts and oak spice, all adding layers of texture. It’s moreish thanks to a whisper of sulphides and while the fuller-bodied palate is shapely, super fine acidity extends the length and ties everything together. 96 Points."
- Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, June 2024
"Fantastic intensity of flavour matched to fantastic length. This is a chardonnay for lovers of chardonnay. There’s cedarwood oak in play, and a kind of nutty-creaminess too, but it’s the blaze of pear, white peach, grapefruit and steel that really woos. Citrussy acidity teams with the pear characters to give the wine an air of juicy refreshment, but everything is in the context of flavour, bold and delicious. This is an exceptional first release, and a truly beautiful wine."
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, August 2024
Elanto Vineyard Ironstone Pinot Noir
2024
"Two Lieux-Dits wines released this vintage, Basalt and Ironstone; fascinating to try them side-by-side. So different. Of course, that’s the point. To date, this is the lowest yielding site; it’s mid-slope, west side and next to Basalt. This needed a bit more coaxing so a decent decant is worth the effort, plus it has more structure and power than its sibling. It’s not just word association either as this has strong ferrous aromas, pomegranate, wormwood, a touch of wintergreen and warm earth akin to freshly tilled soil. Beautiful aromatics. Intensely flavoured, the palate fuller bodied, with supple tannins and bright acidity. Incredible to consider such quality comes off young vines. 97 points."
- Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, August 2026
“Deep, dark colour with the merest trace of purple still lingering in the meniscus; the bouquet is rich and dark-fruited, with broken rock earthy nuances, a suggestion of medicinal herbs possibly from some whole-bunch ferment, a hint of olive tapenade and charred meat, while the palate is full and rich, deep and concentrated, with lashings of fine, chalky tannins which are in perfect balance with the wine. A bigger wine and a fascinating contrast to the Basalt wine. 98/100.”
- Huon Hooke, The Real Review, October 2026
“What a sensational pinot noir. It’s firm, complex, effortless and forceful all at once. This isn’t a pinot noir for wine children, that’s for sure. Walnuts, rich black cherries, sweet spice notes, alpine herb characters, ferrous notes, smoked cedar. It suggests at fruit sweetness and then dives into earth and iron. It remains juicy to, and through, the end, but it’s also massaged quite exquisitely with integrated, nutty tannin. It’s electric drinking, right now, but it will certain cellar. 96 points.” - Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, September 2026
Elanto Vineyard Basalt Pinot Noir
2024
"Since planting Australia’s most ambitious high-density pinot noir vineyard in ’18, Sandro Mosele has already identified unique parcels, this mid-slope and off the east side of the vineyard where basalt is closer to the surface. Such an individual imprint: incredible perfume of wild strawberries and black cherries with forest floor, Middle Eastern spices, menthol and orange zest with more savoury nuances coming through. Complex and detailed. There's a little pinch of green walnut, but mostly sweet fruit coats the mid-weighted palate, as do abundant supple tannins, before the cleansing acidity does its job. 97 points."
- Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion, August 2026
“Medium depth of garnet colour, showing some development in the colour, the bouquet is stemmy/foresty, highly detailed and aromatic, and suggests a fair proportion of whole bunches in the ferment, while the palate is refined, elegant and medium weighted but at the same time seriously intense. The wine is loaded with complexities, fivespice, smoked charcuterie, dried leaf-litter and subtle star anise traces, all lasting very long on the finish, accompanied by tense, fine-grained and harmonious tannins. This is different, and very impressive. 97/100.”
- Huon Hooke, The Real Review, October 2026
“This is firm and complex but mostly it’s a celebration of pinot noir. It’s an archetype in the best of ways. Cherries, strawberries, sweet spices, red roses and undergrowth notes come threaded with stern-but-silty tannin. Again we’re in masterclass territory. There’s so much perfume and life to this wine and yet for structure and length it’s A-Plus. 96 points.”
- Campbell Mattinson, The Wine Front, September 2026