Carlei is a Yarra Valley Australia vineyard. The Yarra Valley is east/northeast of Melbourne, but close to the city. The Yarra Valley is a cool wine region with a lot of elevation change. The higher elevations get quite cool and reportedly produce amazing wines. Carlei appears to be more easterly than north, and I am guessing this vineyard is more in the valley.
I had this wine at a steakhouse in Montreal, Le Queue de Cheval. If the retail price for the wine listed on the Internet is even close to correct, the restaurant markup was beyond extortionate, which would align well with my tasting impressions. Fortunately the steak was very good. It is not that common to see Yarra wines in North America, so it was nice to have a chance to taste this. The Carlei Green Vineyard Pinot was a very solid wine. The balance of fruit to structure was good, and a little bit of the Pinot earthy/smoky flavor that I especially like was present, though very much in the background. On my recently defined wine rating scale, this would be on the lower end of Good. I am probably marking it down a little because at the price charged it was definitely not a good value. This tasted like a solid $20 - $25 Pinot Noir, not a Reserve wine list selection.Carlei is a Yarra Valley Australia vineyard. The Yarra Valley is east/northeast of Melbourne, but close to the city. The Yarra Valley is a cool wine region with a lot of elevation change. The higher elevations get quite cool and reportedly produce amazing wines. Carlei appears to be more easterly than north, and I am guessing this vineyard is more in the valley.
I had this wine at a steakhouse in Montreal, Le Queue de Cheval. If the retail price for the wine listed on the Internet is even close to correct, the restaurant markup was beyond extortionate, which would align well with my tasting impressions. Fortunately the steak was very good. It is not that common to see Yarra wines in North America, so it was nice to have a chance to taste this. The Carlei Green Vineyard Pinot was a very solid wine. The balance of fruit to structure was good, and a little bit of the Pinot earthy/smoky flavor that I especially like was present, though very much in the background. On my recently defined wine rating scale, this would be on the lower end of Good. I am probably marking it down a little because at the price charged it was definitely not a good value. This tasted like a solid $20 - $25 Pinot Noir, not a Reserve wine list selection.