Have you ever heard of Brian Franklin? Brian is one of the most experienced makers of Pinot Noir in Australia and yet one of the least known. He has been making minuscule quantities of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay at a vineyard near Bicheno on the east coast of Tasmania since 1999 as well as doing a vintage each off-season in Burgundy but to give you an idea of how low-profile Brian and his wines are, he still doesn’t have a website, which is a fairly extreme anachronism these days.

Brian is *THE MASTER* of the full throttle/decadent style of Pinot Noir and I first tried his wine by chance when I was working in Tasmania ten years ago and it blew my mind to taste such luscious power. Then Brian disappeared off my radar until I got to meet him at a tasting last winter in Sydney. His own wine is called Apsley Gorge Vineyard and is around $70 per bottle and I tried his new releases on this last occasion and they are still very darn good.

HOWEVER, I subsequently discovered that Brian had started making wine for an even lower profile vineyard called Priory Ridge further north up the east coast of Tasmania, and the wine he has made here is truly mind-boggling and a lot less dollars than the Apsley Gorge. Priory Ridge does have a website but it looks about as rustic as their cellar door: 

But the Priory Ridge Pinot Noir: wow! What an absolute ripper that virtually launches itself at you from the glass. It has Brian's ballistic Pinot credentials stamped all over it as the nose billows deep clouds of musky, spicy perfume and interest, quintessential and high octane “pinosity” (the distinctive smell and taste of Pinot Noir), meatiness and animal/earthy notes. The palate is big, voluminous, and very smooth as only top flight Pinot can be. It is a roaring good, explosively extrovert wine. 

While past vintages of Apsley Gorge have counted as some of the best wines I have ever drunk, the latest releases from Priory Ridge - to my taste - are better (more powerful) than the current releases from Apsley Gorge, and half the price. To put this kind of quality in context, Vivino users gave an average score of 3.8 points (out of 5) to a basic Burgundy from Domaine Bernard Dugat-Py, one of the biggest names in the Pinot business, and this’ll set you back about $105 per bottle (if you can find it at all).

In comparison, current release Priory Ridge Pinot Noir is from 2013 and it costs $34.95 per bottle and averages a score of 4.3 points from Vivino, which is in fact the same average score as was received by Bernard Dugat-Py’s Gevrey-Chambertin 1er Cru, although that costs around $800 per bottle.

Unlike big-gun Burgundy, Priory Ridge Pinot is also under screw cap and none of the big name critics (or even the little name critics) have ever tasted it (or heard of it) so I can’t give you any further third party recommendations there. But try it, it’s a killer wine from an exotically remote vineyard. You will be blown away.
And the Priory Ridge white...
Brian is also making a white (Sauvignon Blanc) for Priory Ridge and the 2015 is sumptuously slurpable, vivacious and dry, a perfect counterpoint to the Pinot. It’s $28.95 and absolutely divine in the European style.
How to order:
Freight is free on any dozen to Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra, and $25 to any case to Perth or Brisbane. If you want some of these two Priory Ridge wines, just let me know what you'd like and I'll send you an invoice and we can do payment by credit card or online transfer. Mixed cases are welcome. I don't have time to do my usual summary table but there are only two wines in this offer so it probably wouldn't be necessary anyway.
With very best wishes,
Tom