A tiny crop, difficult to manage and with covid period staffing issues to boot. Not yet released. A lush, super-ripe cherry, followed by schistous tannins. It will be interesting to see how this marries up, its backwardness justifying the relatively late release regime. A good long aftertaste. Drink from 2027-2032. Tasted Sep 2024.

A fresh light purple. The bouquet is immediately seductive, with a lush darker red fruit, suggesting that the wine will be gorgeous to drink already. The palate corrects us, as we should expect from Rippon, by adding in a firm raft of tannins – though the fruit sweeps over the top of them to carry on to a luxuriant finish with ripe raspberry and some black cherries. Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Sep 2024.

An even ruby purple colour. The bouquet is a little more subdued than Emma’s with some graphite alongside the fruit. Then a huge burst of generous fruit in the middle of the palate, plums, a thick layer of fruit currently covering the structure. An amazing volume of fruit on the aftertaste. Drink from 2029-2036. Tasted Sep 2024.

A cooler year, made even more difficult to manage because of covid complications. Yet these are classical Rippon wines. An attractive mid ruby colour. The fruit comes out immediately, suggesting a wine to drink before the 2019. Cherries with a little graphite. There is the beginning of the velvet which this wine will surely show in maturity. It is a real charmer, with a succulence to the fruit which has been managed without losing the shape of the wine and the vineyard. Quite persistent. Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted Sep 2024.

A very attractive pink purple colour. The bouquet has a sensual and charming fruit, yet with the underlying backbone of classical Rippon. Emma’s Block ability of the fruit to saturate the front of the palate is very evident, but there is plenty to follow through behind, cherries with a little orange zest, medium acidity and refined tannins. Drink from 2027-2034. Tasted Sep 2024.

Less sensational than Emma’s Block but just as fine. The cherries are a little more reserved and concentrated through the middle of the mouth. Some acidity, but especially the tannic framework is driving this wine. Leave Tinker’s Field for longer. The persistence puts this in a separate class. Drink from 2028-2036. Tasted Sep 2024.

A high yielding vintage after the late 2018 rains. A lovely summer succeeded in ripened the grapes though. An attractive mid ruby, a sense of balance in both colour and nose. Elegance is masking intensity. It feels like a much younger version of the 2006, because of the innate sense of harmony. The intensity builds magically on the palate without ever becoming monolithic. Good acidity and refined though certainly present tannins. I predict a spectacular future! Drink from 2027-2035. Tasted Sep 2024.

Lolo’s block, Lolo being how Nick refers to his mother Lois, sits between her house and the Cellar Door and was planted in 2000 – this is the only vintage declared to date. A youthful crimson. Good glycerol legs. Plenty of mixed berry fruit on the nose. A surge of vivid and vibrant dark strawberry fruit across the palate, the front like Emma’s and the structure at the back a little closer to Tinker’s Field. Drink from 2027-2035. Tasted Sep 2024.

Quite a light crimson ruby. The nose is more restrained than usual for Emma’s Block, some cherry, but not yet really giving. Very intense on the palate, linear, very far from being ready, showing a few more tannins than usual in the structure. Drink from 2028-2038. Tasted Sep 2024.

A similar light crimson ruby. Curiously, it is easier to pick the fruit here than with Emma’s Block. It is remarkably fine, alpine strawberry with a little fine raspberry, everything being hidden in the background, superb tensile strength. The structure has a finesse missing in, say, 2015. Drink from 2028-2038. Tasted Sep 2024.

The earliest harvest ever at Rippon, after rain in March caused an explosion in the ripening process. Picked from 15th March at 23 brix and 3.1pH. A fresh deep ruby colour, with very evident power to the nose, possibly at the expense of elegance. This was a very hot summer. A little leathery note is indicative of tannins. A full sweet ripe raspberry and peony profile, plus boiled cherries on the palate. Brawny and lush yet with Rippon tannins behind. A little graphite as well. If all goes well, the 2018 will settle down into a complex wine in due course. Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted Sep 2024.

A tiny vintage, picked in the 3rd week of April at 22 brix and 3.08 pH. A clear pure ruby. The bouquet shows the precision of high-class Rippon. There is a sweetness and weight to the fruit which is quite exciting, energetic raspberry, an attractive thread of acidity and refined tannins. Drink from 2025-2029. Tasted Sep 2024.

No great density of colour, and one of the softer style bouquets. You have to go searching for it a little bit. Fresh cherry, a little strawberry, not quite complete through to the back of the palate, lighter on tannins and acidity. Retasting after the 2017, and again later I can see the structure in full throttle. In fact the tannins are a little on the firm side. But give it time. The fruit was there at harvest and early on in bottle, Nick notes, while agreeing that it is a bit subdued today. Drink from 2025-2028. Tasted Sep 2024.

An even mid ruby. Not much bouquet at first, then some cherry and strawberry. Pleasant fruit pervades the palate, not the most intrusive and then a wealth of succulent cherry to finish. Few tannins, and less structure than many vintages of Rippon. Drink from 2022-2027. Tasted Sep 2024.

A pretty translucent lighter ruby colour. The bouquet is all about the fruit, primary more than complex, a cheerful raspberry. A little more weight on the palate with the cherries coming to the fore, in a slightly sweet and sour format. Drink from 2022-2027. Tasted Sep 2024.

Mid ruby red. Even Tinker’s Field in 2015 seems more fruit driven than briary on the nose. Quite an intensity here, fresh acidity, good tannins make for a chewier finish. Having to reassess this. The muscle is all there, at the moment slightly divorced from the fruit, so a conservative score at this stage. It could yet meld together into a wine deserving a higher rating. Drink from 2024-2030. Tasted Sep 2024.

Picked during the third week of April. A youthful ruby, very promising, with more fruit weight on the nose but less floral than the 2012. More structure on the palate, built around tannins more than acidity, with fair length. No signs of emerging from the chrysalis. Drink from 2025-2030. Tasted Sep 2024.

This vintage represents 100 years of the family on the property, and 30 years since the first pinot planting. A warm vintage. Pale crimson to ruby. A light but fine nose, showing less ripe but very appealing fruit and a little whole bunch pepper. In fact, the perfume becomes an absolute delight, both fresh and dried roses. Very harmonious on the palate, and persistent, not the most muscled but a sheer delight in its elegant style. Few tannins, a light acidity and persistent. Drink from 2022-2028. Tasted Sep 2024.

Picked early, at the end of March. Back to a more typical mid crimson colour after the much deeper 2010. The bouquet is a little backward, perhaps not as fresh as my favourites. Attractive raspberry fruit emerges behind, with fair length. Retasted later on its own, it had a better chance to shine without the much richer 2010 alongside. Drink from 2020-2025. Tasted Sep 2024.

A ripe vintage, picked from 2nd April, reaching 24 brix plus, (14% in bottle), yet still with good acidity at 3.12 pH. A much deeper and more youthful ruby colour than any of its predecessors. Thick glycerol legs, representing the vintage rather than anything intentional. Monolithic on the nose, with a little leathery touch suggestive of tannins to follow. Perhaps a hint of brassica. Powerful, rich, rather unformed dark red fruit on the nose, a suggestion of chocolate, firm acidity. Somewhat in the style of a 2005 red Burgundy, hugely promising but still not ready! Drink from 2026-2032. Tasted Sep 2024.

A cooler year, picked from the 4th week of April, 13% alcohol and low pH. A relatively pale crimson. The bouquet is gentle, with some floral attributes, showing a proportion of whole bunch fermentation. This is very elegant, less powerful perhaps than 2006 and 2007, but with a beautiful sense of harmony, fragrant and persistent. Drinking well now. Drink from 2020-2027. Tasted Sep 2024.

Medium deep crimson. The bouquet took a little coaxing, but then the charm of the fruit really emerges. Nonetheless the taut and precise style of the odd numbered vintages shows through on the palate. There is still plenty in reserve here. Drink from 2024-2029. Tasted Sep 2024.

Similar in colour, with a little more complexity on the nose, alpine strawberries, some signs of whole bunch, especially on the palate. Leaner but longer than Emma’s, with good acidity to finish. Drink from 2024-2029. Tasted Sep 2024.

Picked from the 2nd week of April, which has been the Rippon norm. 2008 was a very warm vintage, the hottest until 2018. It was also very generous but they handled the crop well, with crop thinning. A pale to mid crimson with lighter rim. Some elegance, albeit in a softer idiom. Red berries with a little orange zest, then firmer behind. Not quite the intensity of 2006 and 2007, but harmonious and persistent. Drinking very well now. Drink from 2020-2027. Tasted Sep 2024.

A little fuller in colour than the Mature Vines, though again with a lighter rim. A firm deep raspberry fruit shows from the outset. The intensity is immediately apparent on the palate, plus a little menthol from the oak. One wonders if the extraction of the single vineyards might have down played the regular bottling, though Nick is keen to state that they did their best to safeguard against this. Emma’s Block comes across as quite saline when retasted after Tinker’s Field. Drink from 2024-2030. Tasted Sep 2024.

Perhaps a fraction lighter than Emma’s Block in colour. The nose is more fruit forward, raspberry and strawberry together with a briary underlay. This wine comes across as the most structured on the palate, albeit with perfectly integrated tannins, and the longest finish. A slight, and pleasing, chocolate note at the finish. Drink from 2022-2030. Tasted Sep 2024.

A full and invigorating colour, similar to the 2006. Not quite so harmonious, but with added tension. Perhaps an extra level of density, and perhaps the first wine where I feel that extra ageing could be a benefit. The acidity is a touch more pronounced than the 2006, so not quite the same degree of sweet spot, at least at this stage, though there is still time for the 2007 to improve. Tasted Sep 2024.

A vigorous bright red crimson colour, with nose to match. Deliciously perfumed, the palate in full harmony, the full panoply of red cherry, raspberry and strawberry fruit, the structure perfectly integrated. Tasting this wine, I feel that Nick Mills’ take on Rippon is reaching harmony, all the way through to the back of the palate. The 2006 should have enough life for at least another five years. Tasted Sep 2024.

Another cold vintage. A full and even crimson colour. This is tense, brisk and very youthful. Some sour cherries in the fruit mix, a fruit profile which suggests that ripening was a little more difficult. Perhaps a little blood orange. Plenty of life left. Tasted Sep 2024.

The first vintage under DIAM. A cold vintage. Evolving with a paler rim. Ripe fleshy strawberries on the nose, middleweight, softer in fruit style than some of the wines, so fractionally less precision, but still a very pleasing glass of maturing pinot with good length. Tasted Sep 2024.

A cooler vintage. A clean, vigorous, garnet to crimson colour, with both generosity and precision on the nose. Bright ripe fresh red fruit, still some tannins on the palate, while the acidity is well folded in. Roses and peonies join the fruit, this is a complex and impressive wine. Rippon is starting to come of age, and Nick Mills shows he is ready to push a little further. Tasted Sep 2024.

One of the more evolved colours, with a certain amount of depth. There is a light dusting from the cork. There is plenty of energy though on the palate, the 2000 Rippon is still a vigorous wine with the fruit transcending both tannin and acidity. Full, generous, and commanding. Cherries join the mixed red berries at the finish. Nick could see from this vintage that Rippon pinot could use an extra six months in wood. Tasted Sep 2024.

A mature garnet, not quite as clear in colour as the 1997. The fruit is a little less fresh on the palate and the menthol is once again present at the back. In comparison with 1997, the 1998 Rippon pinot has greater depth of fruit but a little less clarity. Tasted Sep 2024.

A light garnet colour, mature but still bright. The bouquet is gentle but suggests underlying energy, despite the maturity. Quite mentholated, fresh acidity, some alpine strawberries and brisk red cherries. Pleasing, if not quite as complete as 1992 or 1993. Tasted Sep 2024.

A cool vintage, affected by the eruption of the Philippines volcano, Pinatubo, in August 1994. The palest colour to date, relatively evolved. The nose has not completely faded, but is softer and lighter. Chaptalised? A few strawberries on the palate but not the fresh energy of most wines to date. Tasted Sep 2024.

Cooler again. Still bright in colour, with some sediment. A smoky note to the bouquet, quite complex. The beetroot has been cooked and thus softened, while the berry fruit takes the upper hand. Good acidity, with fresh fruit growing on the palate, raspberry with a fresh cherry wash, a few tannins at the finish still, alongside the typical acidity of this site, which starts to become more prominent with time in the glass. Tasted Sep 2024.

A cooler vintage. The beginning of architecture in the wine. Pale garnet colour. Deliciously perfumed, a little riper fruit than in 1991 judging by the nose. Plenty of class to make you keep wanting to go back for another sniff. A little strawberry, rather graceful fruit, then a tannin or two behind, but lively pinpricks of alpine strawberries follow through on the palate. Overall, a good fruit-tannin-acid balance, a wine that is still very much with us today. Tasted Sep 2024.

A separate ferment from the start, rather than being a selection of the best barrels from the regular wine. Though the colour has held up well, crimson with a light tawny rim, there is a light oxidative note on the nose. Possibly a little dust from the cork. A greater fruit concentration but the cork dust is holding it back. Slightly higher acidity showing of these two wines. Rudi Bauer, who made these wines, also had a clear preference for the ‘regular’ bottling. Tasted Sep 2024.

A warmer vintage. Lighter garnet. Not so much vegetal, but a little bit of beetroot and capsicum. Still elegant, however, with a fresh red berry fruit showing through beneath. The tannins have subsided, the acidity is still present, rather good length. After a few minutes, this develops more of a tomato character and begins to dry. Drink up. Tasted Sep 2024.

Made in Bordeaux barrels with slim staves, and bottled in a flute bottle for visual attention. Very similar in colour, perhaps more even across the glass. Less of the beetroot, more fruit based. Vestigial cherries, then developing quite a rich mid palate, the oak has done its job of enhancing the wine rather than fighting with it. Lightly mentholated at the back, this is still a real pleasure to drink and nicely persistent. Tasted Sep 2024.