The 2021 Clarence House Block 1 Pinot Noir from Tasmania’s Coal River Valley has won Australia’s Best Pinot Noir at the 2022 Australian Pinot Noir Challenge.

The winning wine is one crafted by celebrated winemaker Anna Pooley, nurtured by cardiology specialist, Professor David Kilpatrick and tended to by highly-regarded Tasmanian viticulturists Mark Hoey and Max Marriott.

Clarence House was built in 1830, however the vineyard was planted more recently in 1998 when Professor Kilpatrick and his family acquired the property and made Clarence House their home.

Pooley and her winemaker husband, Justin Bubb have worked alongside Hoey and Marriott, and closely with Professor Kilpatrick since 2015, to regenerate and manage the site organically, with the aim to ultimately produce wine with energy and freshness.

Pooley said for the Block 1 Pinot Noir to be recognised as the top pinot noir wine in Australia is a great testament to the culture of teamwork they have created at Clarence House.

“We are absolutely thrilled to have won this award. All of us are collectively involved in every decision and have a shared vision to produce the very best wine we can, and a wine that is a real joy to drink.

“Mark and Max have worked really hard to fine-tune the vineyard, starting from the ground up to enhance soil health and biodiversity, vine health and balance.

“Block 1 is a great example of the work they have done. It performs consistently, producing fruit of latent power, energy and elegance, which we knew we could achieve here,” she said.

Professor Kilpatrick said his drive and focus has been to produce pinot with as much subtlety and fruit balance as possible from his Tasmanian plantings.

“This wine is a story of the Dijon 777 clone,” said Kilpatrick.

“Clarence House was one of the first five sites in Tasmania to trial 777 in 2002, and it has consistently produced impressive fruit in Block 1 every year since.”

Professor Kilpatrick established a lifelong interest in wine after 10 years of cardiology training in Europe including a sabbatical at the Hôpital de Cardiologique in Bordeaux.

“While it is true I am particularly fond of and collect Bordeaux wines, Burgundy has never escaped my interest, and I am determined to achieve the best pinot noir wines we can from our home here at Clarence House.”

Chief Judge of the Australian Pinot Noir Challenge, Matt Harrop worked with a panel of judges to determine the Best of Region wines and Australia’s Best Pinot Noir wine.

Harrop said the top regional wines showed wonderful aromatic complexity, concentrated flavours and an intimate expression of place. 

“Selecting the top wine of the challenge proved to be a very difficult task. With 21 gold medal wines from six different regions, nominating the best of each region came down to the wines which displayed a beautiful balance of site expression and winemaking technique.” said Harrop.