The ChaLou Estate Pinot Noir 2025 is a bright, medium-bodied Pinot Noir from the high country of Orange, New South Wales, built on red fruit and savoury spice rather than weight. Grown at altitude, it has the perfume and freshness that mark cool-climate Orange Pinot Noir.

Aromatically it leads with red cherry, cranberry and a twist of orange peel, with dried thyme and a peppery lift underneath. The palate follows the same line: sappy red fruit, a little pomegranate tartness, and a savoury, almost earthy edge that keeps the fruit honest.

Tannins are fine and powdery, framing the wine without drying it, and the acidity runs straight through the middle in the way good high-altitude fruit tends to. Medium-bodied and light on its feet, the ChaLou Estate Pinot Noir finishes clean and gently spiced, with a faint bitter-cherry grip that makes you reach for the glass again.

Serve it with a slight chill alongside roast duck, mushroom risotto, char siu pork or a plate of charcuterie. It also handles grilled salmon and soy-glazed vegetables better than most reds, which makes it a useful bottle when the table is heading in several directions at once.

Drink now through to around 2030, with the fruit at its most vivid over the next two or three years and the savoury side coming forward after that.