To be clear, Campbell’s quote in the title refers to the 2022 Serré Pinot Noir. But this is a release strewn with stardust. It’s been three years since Bannockburn released a full suite of premium wines. During this time, Bannockburn’s star has risen and risen. Since the first vines were planted in 1974 by Stuart Hooper, Bannockburn has had its fair share of visionaries at the helm. Matt Holmes may be standing on the shoulders of giants and yet, since his arrival, he has methodically found a way to unleash the full potential of this already iconic vineyard and its distinctive volcanic soils. Bannockburn’s Chardonnays, already among Victoria’s finest, have never tasted better, while the reinvention of its Pinot Noir has been a revelation. I guess it is true what they say—you've got to watch out for the quiet ones. Vintage 2022 yielded good crops of excellent fruit at Bannockburn and allowed Holmes a degree of winemaking freedom he had not been afforded in the previous two years. Such conditions are a golden scoring opportunity for any winemaker and Holmes has, to extend the metaphor, put his laces through the ball. Benign conditions allowed the Chardonnay to harness more power than in 2021, while cool nights contributed to beautifully chiselled focus and tensile structure. Burgundy growers might bite your arm off for seasons like this. The return of the Serré and De La Terre Pinots has not come too soon, and Holmes’s ‘22 Pinots are off the scale. Campbell Mattinson is correct; this is Bannockburn at its best, which means Victoria at its best. And so on and so forth…