Adelaide Hills winery Whisson Lake is releasing three new knockout pinot noirs

Whisson Lake isn’t a winery on the lips of most wine lovers – but given they consistently release highly rated pinot noir wines – we think it really deserves more attention. 

Andrie and Mark Whisson are the team behind this premium winery, with Mark taking on the viticulture and Andrie running all things winemaking. Together they exclusively grow pinot noir (on the highest elevation vineyard in South Australia), making very small batches of top-tier wine – including the Pinot Noir White Label, Pinot Noir ‘Monopole’ and the very exciting (and rare) white Le Gris de Noir. 

Very recently, Halliday Tasting team member Mike Bennie had the opportunity to taste and review these three wines, awarding both red pinot noirs 95 points, while giving 90 points to the white pinot. 

Mike described the Monopole as a “Beautiful, delicate, haunting wine. Just stellar.”, while referring to the White Label as “a delicate and brittle wine, so pure, so fresh, so fine.” When talking about Le Gris de Noir, he mentioned how it “has a joyful slosh and slippery nature”.

One thing the Whisson Lake team takes great pride in when it comes to these wines, is their dedication to expressing their Adelaide Hills site so pristinely. Andrie and Mark have come to know their property intimately over the last three decades (since starting the winery in 1985), focussing their passions and experience on greatly enhancing the subtleties of pinot noir through terroir-driven wines. 

The great respect for the variety and site are shown in their viniculture and winemaking practices – having a “no fiddling” approach, which they describe as “more or less how winemaking was done in the better cellars in Burgundy before the advent of high-tech oenology.”

In direct terms, this means their wines are made with wild yeast and wild malolactic bugs, but without pH adjustments, added tannin, vitamins, colour or anything else. There’s also no fining or filtering, and no refrigeration – except with cold soaks pre- and post-fermentation.

Moreover, only a highly limited number of bottles are available each year, so those keen to give them a try best not wait long before purchasing.

For more details on these three stellar wines, check out Mike Bennie’s full tasting notes below. 

2022 Whisson Lake Pinot Noir ‘Monopole’ 

"Sleek and fine, super fresh and bright. A wine of tension and delicacy that seems to rise and rise with every minute in air and decanter and exposure. Succulent tannins, red cherry, barely there, tart cranberry, a suggestion, then white raspberry and strawberry meshed to sweet spices, clove and aniseed. Beautiful, delicate, haunting wine. Just stellar." – Mike Bennie, 95 points

2022 Whisson Lake White Label Piccadilly Valley Pinot Noir 2022 

"A fragile, beautiful, delicate wine. Crisp red cherry meets pomegranate juice, brined green olive, cranberry, white raspberry and an array of sweet and savoury spices. This is a delicate and brittle wine, so pure, so fresh, so fine. Impressive for its understatement and yet drive. A wine to sit on and contemplate for its beauty. Very good." – Mike Bennie, 95 points

2023 Whisson Lake Le Gris de Noir Pinot Noir 

"This has a joyful slosh and slippery nature, a wine that seems to lean into its more opulent, sweet spiced offering with come-hither green pear, nashi pear and light, nectarine characters, dashes of preserved lemon and lemon curd. Quite oily and slippery, the wine is medium weight and full of personality. A quibble may be that the white is a little sluggish and lacking in energy for easier drinking." – Mike Bennie, 90 points