Ghost Rock La Filles and Clairdown Pinot Noir 2025 - Mixed Case

A mixed case containing two of Ghost Rock's Single Vineyard Pinot Noirs:

3 x Ghost Rock La Filles Pinot Noir 2025

3 x Ghost Rock Clairdown Single Vineyard Pinot Noir 2025

Stuart McCloskey, tasted 1 October 2026 "Inevitably, one Pinot leads to another… I just don’t understand the haters of this most wonderful varietal. Admittedly, remove all the expensive dross from the equation (I entirely align with that), but truly delicious Pinot Noir remains one of wine’s greatest pleasures.

And so, onto something rather special. This is the very first release from their single-vineyard Clairdown site. The original vineyard was planted in 2004, with this wine coming exclusively from a more recently established block within the property. Planted entirely to clone 777, the block sits on a gentle north-facing slope in a sheltered nook of the vineyard. Long hours of sunlight combined with gentle, even ripening provide rather lovely conditions for Pinot Noir - particularly a clone capable of delivering such perfume, fruit intensity and structure.

Being the inaugural release makes this especially interesting. We’re tasting not simply another Pinot from the collection, but the first expression of a specific parcel of Clairdown that they believe deserves to stand alone. This is my second sampling (with a gap of circa 5-6-months). 

This is serious. Deep, brooding and quite magnificent. There’s no shortage of Pinot purity here, but everything feels darker, deeper and more concentrated. The perfume takes a little coaxing from the glass before unfurling with black cherry, dark raspberry, plum and wild strawberry, followed by rosehip, woody herbs and sweet spice. Dried blood orange is unmissable.  In some ways – like the Supernatural fragrance however, more concentrated.  There’s something darker lurking beneath - damp earth, black tea, graphite and a touch of woodsmoke. The aromatics keep shifting and, with each return to the glass, something else appears. I would like to see this decanted for an hour… 

The palate is fabulous. Deeply fruited and wonderfully intense. Dark cherry, raspberry and plum saturate the palate before a wave of savoury spice, dried herbs, pencil, and orange takes over. There’s a beautiful coolness running through the wine which keeps all that fruit in check. Super long – acidity crackles.

The tannins are terrific – fine and wonderfully integrated, providing a framework that feels altogether more serious. There’s real tension here, too. Fruit, tannin, and acidity pull against one another before eventually settling into an incredibly long, savoury finish.

This is less immediately flirtatious - It doesn’t throw everything at you from the first pour. There’s a sense that much remains tucked away, waiting to emerge. Give it air and the wine broadens, softens and becomes increasingly expressive, but that brooding core never disappears.

For a first release from this block, this is some statement. There’s depth, concentration, structure and a genuine sense of place. It feels like a Pinot built for the cellar rather than simply capable of surviving one.

I would love to see this again in five years. In eight to ten, I suspect it will be something rather special.

Serious Pinot Noir. Absolutely delicious. Special… Served using Zalto Burgundy stemware. Drink now and cellar for 10-years. Roasted wild duck served with crisp, fried sage leaves, sautéed potatoes cooked in duck fat would be a sublime pairing. Rich, earthy, savoury and deeply autumnal - exactly the sort of plate this serious, brooding Pinot deserves."