Mount Pleasant Mount Henry Shiraz Pinot Noir 750ml

Brand: Mount Pleasant

Release Name: Mount Henry Shiraz Pinot Noir (Heritage Range)

Wine Style / Type: Medium-Bodied, Complex Red Blend

Varietal: Shiraz and Pinot Noir (Blend Ratio Varies by Vintage — Recent Releases Approximately 70% Shiraz, 30% Pinot Noir)

Age: Vintage varies depending on current stock

Volume: 750ml Bottle

Alc / Vol (%): Varies by vintage (typically around 13.5–14.0%) — please confirm against current stock

Country: Australia

Region: Hunter Valley, New South Wales (Estate Vineyards, Pokolbin, Slopes of the Brokenback Range)

Cask Type: Shiraz Fermented and Matured in Tank; Pinot Noir Fermented and Matured in Oak; Blended After 6 Months

Limited Edition: No (Mount Pleasant's Standing Annual Mount Henry Release, Originally Created 1937, Revived Late 1990s)

Award Winner: Yes — Recent Vintages Have Scored Up to 95 Points (The Wine Front) and 94 Points (Campbell Mattinson)

Mount Pleasant was established in 1921 in Pokolbin, Hunter Valley, by legendary winemaker Maurice O'Shea — often called the father of Australia's modern winemaking. The McWilliam family purchased the estate in the 1930s and continued to support O'Shea's winemaking, and his legacy has been carried forward by a succession of Chief Winemakers, with Adrian Sparks taking the role in 2018 as the fifth to hold the position. Mount Pleasant remains one of the Hunter Valley's most historically significant wineries, with the Lovedale Semillon standing as one of its most celebrated and selectively released wines.

This is a genuinely rare style with real historical weight — Maurice O'Shea crafted Australia's first Shiraz-Pinot Noir blend at Mount Pleasant in 1937, and after the tradition faded, the estate revived it in the late 1990s, since inspiring producers across the country to attempt their own versions of the combination. What sets Mount Pleasant's version apart is genuine access to the raw materials: the Pinot Noir comes from the estate's own vineyard, home to some of Australia's oldest Pinot Noir plantings, giving this blend a pedigree that newer imitators simply can't match. The two varieties are never blended early — each ferments and matures completely separately for six months, Shiraz in tank and Pinot Noir in oak, before being brought together, a deliberate process that preserves the distinct character of each before marrying them. Respected critic Campbell Mattinson named it one of his favourite wines in Mount Pleasant's entire range, awarding the 2024 vintage 94 points and calling it "fine dining in a bottle," while noting it's consistently one of the least expensive wines in a range from what he calls "Australia's most important wine estate." It's an excellent, versatile red — food-friendly and complex without the price tag of Mount Pleasant's rarer single-vineyard releases — and a genuinely distinctive gateway into the estate's heritage range.