Caledonia Australis Mount Macleod Pinot Noir 2004

I felt like a light red wine tonight, so we opened this little number.

This wine was cheap, about $16, and I wasn't expecting a lot. This wine has turned out to be a serious, though flawed, pinot noir of some interest.

A reticent nose of beetroot and subtle stalk seems to match the wine's transparently orange/red hue. It's in the mouth that this wine takes off. Its flavour is unexpectedly intense, with flagrantly aromatic beetroot and caramel oak leading into confected, slightly overripe berry fruit flavours. A lightly stalky note takes over towards the end of the palate, and the wine finishes in a puckery but not obviously tannic finish.

I like this wine and it's clearly a pinot that aims for sophistication and style. But the wine's flavour profile, specifically its fruit flavour, is slightly odd, and there's lack of integration across each individual component. Acidity in particular seems a bit "out there" with respect to the rest of the wine's structure.

It failed miserably to generate any synergy with the rather beefy meal we had along with it. Oh well.