2024 Shy Susan Pinot Noir

**New Shy Susan Wines and new vintages released with the next Shy Susan Wine Club annually in September!

“Shy Susan (Tetratheca gunnii) is a critically endangered Australian wildflower. Her survival depends completely on a little native bee, who alone is capable of pollination. Their fate is forever entwined”.

After working with Tasmanian fruit for nearly two decades Glenn James with his wife, Jo Marsh began crafting wines under their newly created Shy Susan label in 2015. The couple lived in Porepunkah in the Alpine Valleys region and Glenn commuted to Tasmania weekly for his role as Chief Winemaker at Winemaking Tasmania. When Jo fell pregnant in late 2019 Glenn made the decision to leave his role and work fulltime with Jo in the Alpine Valleys. Having many years to experience the quality of fruit the Alpine Valleys had to offer, they decided to continue the Shy Susan brand with local fruit. Select small parcels of fruit are crafted to reflect variety, vineyard and the stylistic approach forged from Glenn’s skill and experience.

Production Notes

The Bogong Estate vineyard at Tawonga South was planted exclusively to Pinot Noir in the mid-1990s. Situated at just under 400 metres elevation on the lower slopes of Mt Bogong, it is one of the coolest vineyard sites in the Alpine Valleys, providing ideal conditions for slow, even ripening and the development of fine varietal character.

This wine is an approximately 50/50 blend of D5V12 and MV6. The fruit was handpicked in four batches from the first week of March, with harvesting spread across two weeks to capture each parcel at optimal ripeness.

Each batch was fermented separately in open-top fermenters, using a combination of selected yeasts and varying winemaking approaches, including crushed berry, whole berry and whole-bunch components. The ferments were plunged twice daily, reaching peak temperatures of approximately 28°C. After two weeks on skins, the wines were pressed and transferred to a combination of new (45%) and seasoned oak. The wine was matured on lees without racking for 14 months. The individual batches were then blended and bottled in January 2026.

Technical details

Vineyard:         Bogong Estate Vineyard, Tawonga South
Region:            Alpine Valleys
Alcohol:           13.5%

Volume made:  141 dozen

Winemakers:    Glenn James & Jo Marsh

Reviews

"A top-flight pinot with strong varietal definition and detail courtesy of the Alpine Valleys. As with previous releases, it is the purity of fruit, the fineness of detail and the seductive, almost unassuming power of the grape that so impresses. A glistening red cherry colour leads to assertive cherry, plum and cranberry aromas with licorice, a lively peppery spiciness and rose florals. That spiciness runs the length of the palate and is an exciting adjunct to the finely textured red cherry, berry fruits, earth, herbs and forest leaves. A real find for pinot lovers." Awarded 95 points, Halliday Wine Companion, Jeni Port - Published 20 August 2026