Critic Scores:

• 90 – Huon Hooke, The Real Review

Sourced from younger parcels on the estate that are not yet considered mature enough to fully communicate the macro-climate complexities of Rippon's historic terroir, the "Jeunesse" bottling is deliberately shaped to showcase pure, linear varietal character. Hand-harvested fruit from a uniquely early, warm 2018 vintage was fermented via ambient yeasts before being bottled under Diam cork without filtering.

Pouring a deep crimson red with a prominent purple rim, the wine avoids typical high-toned perfume, leaning instead into a highly serious and grounded aromatics profile. A reserved bouquet of dark plummy fruit and ripe black cherries unfolds alongside a faint undertone of dried fruits and terrestrial earth.

On the medium-bodied palate, the wine delivers a rich, highly focused mouthfeel balanced by vibrant acidity and an absence of heavy oak influence.

Flavors of crunchy red berries are corralled by a robust, firm network of drying tannins that provide an exceptionally straight, linear drive.

Serving as the lead critical reference for this vintage, Huon Hooke of The Real Review highlighted its substantial weight and structural form, describing the wine as "quite rich and has a lot of firm, drying tannins. It's not a highly-perfumed pinot, tending a little dry-red-ish. Terrestrial rather than aerial."