Tough, tough year in 2011 for many when it came to red wines – the obvious exceptions being the Hunter Valley and Margaret River (and I’m sure I’ve left some others out). The grapes for this were sourced from Geelong, Henty and Ballarat. Anyway, I tasted a 2010 Provenance ‘Geelong’ Pinot Noir amongst a bracket of six at a recent Sommeliers Australia Pinot Benchmarking and it was very good. So good that it received the same amount of votes for best wine in bracket as the deservedly lauded 2010 Bindi ‘Original Vineyard’. So these guys know their way around Pinot Noir. Unfortunately the wet, cool vintage seems to have taken its toll here.
It smells slightly mawkish with cherries, green strawberries, citrus peel and herbal characters. Pretty much the same on a palate which veers towards tartness. The acid isn’t too biting and there’s some fine sappy tannin but overall it fails to convince. The citrus peel and greener characters grew more pronounced on the second day of tasting. 87 Average – Good
Region: Geelong, Ballarat, Henty
Alcohol: 12.5%
Closure: Screwcap
Price: $32
Tasted: September 2012