2023 Gentle Folk Monomeith Pinot Noir

The 2023 Monomeith Pinot Noir comes from one of the most distinctive sites in the Adelaide Hills, tucked into its own cool valley on the top ridge of Ashton. This organically farmed vineyard, cared for by Patrick and Vienna O’Sullivan, benefits from an east-west orientation, with the vines catching the best of both the morning and afternoon sun. 

With 25-year-old vines at its core, this wine is all about elegance. Expect a heady mix of violet and lilac on the nose, along with the cool minerality that’s becoming a hallmark of this part of the Hills. The wine was fermented with wild yeasts in open-top vessels, using a combination of de-stemmed berries and whole clusters to bring out the varietal’s purest expression.

Aged for 10 months in oak (20% new), it’s got the structure to develop further in the bottle, but it’s equally compelling right now.

With 2,354 bottles produced, the 2023 Monomeith Pinot Noir is a beautifully crafted, expressive wine from one of the coolest and most exciting sites in the Adelaide Hills.

96 Points & Top 100 Wines of 2024
"Gareth Belton really matters. His Gentle Folk wines are poetically expressive and expertly made. This alluringly aromatic pinot from a vineyard near Ashton is finely spiced and gorgeously supple. A wine that speaks of place, not ego."
- Nick Ryan (The Weekend Australian)

96 points
"A union of the site and Gareth Belton's respect for it, this is a wine with heart and soul. Remarkably aromatic, sure-footed but fine-boned, it's mesmerising in its approach and carries a bouquet of romance – dried roses, strawberry, and clove. The concentration here is to be revered—can we taste in colour? This wine makes it feel as though we can." 
- Katrina Butler (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 Points
"It’s cool, it’s succulent, it’s got some slurp to it too... It goes the distance, it feels svelte and coils serpent-like through the palate. A savoury undertow of brambles and earth also there. It does many, many things, and just feels right and righteous overall. Oh boy.."
- Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)