If you adore Freycinet Pinot Noir, as I do, there’s a good case for stocking up on both the real thing and the second label. Louis is alluring, immediate and gorgeous, purposely a more fruit-driven style and ready to drink right away. From a vineyard just 300m down the hill from the estate’s fabled amphitheatre site, the vines were sixteen years of age in 2012 and capture the same understated pepper spice notes that characterise this place. A beautifully aromatic pinot noir of lifted violet and rose petal fragrance and focused, pure red cherry and strawberry fruit, elegantly laced together with finely textured tannins. 2012 was one of the great years for Louis. $30 direct.