There are moments in the life of a winery that feel especially meaningful, and this is one of them.
After nearly two decades of working with four remarkable vineyard sites across Victoria, we’re proud and excited to share something we’ve been quietly working towards for years: the release of four single-site Pinot Noirs from the exceptional 2023 vintage.
These wines represent the pinnacle of our work at Provenance. Bottlings that express not only the unique character of each site but also the cumulative effect of years spent walking the rows, refining our practices, and listening closely to the land.
Production is extremely limited, fewer than 25 dozen of each, and the quality is superb.
Why 2023 Matters Vintage 2023 gave us something special. It’s the first year all four vineyards excelled in harmony: an alignment of site, season, and intention. These wines result from slow, steady improvements: the transition to more organic principles, soil-rejuvenating cover crops, and the complete removal of herbicides. We’ve come to understand, with conviction, that truly great wine begins in a healthy, balanced vineyard.
We taste and assess constantly and could only bottle at this level when we’re confident they’re worthy. Compared to our Regional Series (all of which have been rated “Outstanding” at 96 points), these are a clear step up. These are wines of greater depth, power, poise, and length. They are, quite simply, the best set of Pinot Noirs we’ve ever released.
2023 Sinclair Vineyard Pinot Noir – Ballarat Perched at 510 metres, Sinclair is one of our highest sites, planted in 1997 on quartz-rich Ordovician soils. Warm days and brisk Ballarat nights slow ripening and preserve natural acidity, resulting in precise, lifted wines. This 2023 release shows rosehip aromatics, bright red fruit, poise, and a fine chalky structure, an ethereal expression of the site.
2023 Scotsburn Vineyard Pinot Noir – Ballarat Just down the slope from Sinclair, on a volcanic rise at the foot of Mount Buninyong, Scotsburn is dramatic and rugged. At 500 metres, its ancient basalt gravel (“chocolate soil”) yields savoury, muscular Pinot with dark cherry fruit and a bold tannin framework. This is the first time we’ve bottled it on its own, as previously it was blended with Sinclair for our Regional Ballarat Pinot. The 2023 is everything you want in exceptional Pinot: inviting, beguiling, a complex weave of pure fruit and spice notes, supported by such length and drive.
2023 Doeven Vineyard Pinot Noir – Henty In the far south-west of Victoria, home to the famed Drumborg, Doeven sits on schist soils exposed to cool Southern Ocean winds. It was planted in the 1980s and has established itself as fantastic site for remarkable grape quality. It produces naturally concentrated, low-yielding fruit of incredible complexity. In 2023, the site delivered a Pinot Noir with striking energy, fine minerality, and beautiful natural acidity; elegant, detailed, and built to age.
2023 Darriwill Vineyard Pinot Noir – Geelong Our flagship Geelong vineyard, Darriwill in the Moorabool Valley has been part of our journey for nearly 20 years. With limestone-rich soils and a cool south-easterly aspect, it always gives Pinot of depth and structure. Our move to sustainable farming practices, no herbicides, enriched soils, and a closer connection to the site, has more than delivered what we'd hoped. The 2023 wine is dark, bold and powerful, brooding, multi-layered, and quintessentially Geelong.
We’ve poured everything we’ve learned into these wines, and it means a great deal to share them with the world.
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