The Mornington Peninsula is recognised as one of Australia’s premier regions for cool-climate Pinot Noir, and at Montalto it’s our defining varietal. From estate-grown wines to Single Vineyard bottlings, each Pinot Noir reflects the character of its site - Red Hill, Tuerong and beyond - shaped by maritime breezes, ancient soils and meticulous winemaking. Fresh, juicy, and eager to please, this peninsula Pinot pours ruby-red with raspberry sweetness and plenty of fresh young fruit.
Buoyed by bright acidity and spice fragrance this is a very compelling release with finely coating tannins that extend the full length of the palate. The 2021 is an exciting wine to cellar as swell season chardonnay time will allow the more beguiling aromatic side to reveal itself to the full. This wine is a composition of sections of the original 1988 planting and the 2001 Kaye vineyard.
Wine More Cellars is proud to bring to you our single-session masterclass events. These are offered regularly throughout the year offering customers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to enjoy several bottles of elite wine in the company of appreciative people and educator in a great venue. Lemony-fresh acidity and a slight saline quality add to the refreshment factor. Dan Buckle is the chief winemaker at Yarra Valley’s Chandon, as well as running his own Circe brand, which is based on Hilcrest Road, near Paringa Estate. His roots are in the Mornington Peninsula, having grown up the family vineyard there and having helped his father plant the first vines at Chandon as a teenager in 1986. Stints at Coldstream Hills under James Halliday, as well as working in France led him to Yering Station, then a celebrated stint at Mount Langi Ghiran, before settling at what was then Domaine Chandon in 2012.
We gathered every Mornington pinot noir that we could find and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines. Below are the wines that made the panellists’ top-six selections from the tasting. A blend of all our estate vineyards plus the St James's vineyard in Uraidla.
Pinot noir had never been outside the orbit of Crittenden and McIntyre, with a well-honed appreciation for the wines of Burgundy. But the data suggested that it would simply be too hot for the grape. That data proved to be incorrect, and the early evidence in their vineyards, along with the pioneering wines and mentorship of Nat White, guided a change of direction in the vineyard. On the Peninsula, the maritime climate and a supposed similarity in heat summation and the like were touted as being uncannily close to Bordeaux. A homoclime (similar climate), in other words, which has been a yardstick for selecting many New World vineyard sites, though a not an infallible one.
Black countered that recent vintages would likely play a part in that, and several of the wines were likely made to be consumed more readily – that even though there was a decently sized selection, it was still a limited survey. It’s an opportunity to collaborate with some exceptional vineyards and people across the state and produce wines that connect with our philosophy of making wine from the ground up. All of our decisions are focused on how we can do things better in order to minimise our impact on the environment.
Due to the warmer season, the palate delivers delicious dark fruits and savoury flavours which are complemented by fine-grained tannins. This wine was aged in a blend of new and seasoned French oak barriques for 10 months. Bright and aromatic, the nose delivers raspberry, strawberry and red cherry with savoury spice notes.
Fabiens vinification for this wine is all about capturing finesse fragrance and purity and he has succeeded brilliantly. The Bindi Dixon Pinot Noir is based upon declassified grapes from the Original Vineyard planted in 1988 and grapes from the new Block K, planted in 2001. The ideal of this wine is to produce a delicious, perfumed, spicy harmonious, textured wine that is not as intense, complex nor ageworthy as our individual vineyard wines. Even when the outstanding Block K vines are older we will continue to declassify sections or barrels from each vineyard and produce this wine.
Sappy, moreish and complex, this wine can be enjoyed now but will gain interest over the medium term. Elegantly structured palate, presenting refined flavours of red cherry, ripe raspberry, and subtle cranberry, complemented by nuanced layers of gentle spices, subtle black tea leaf, and earthy minerality. Polished tannins and lively acidity ensure impeccable balance and sophisticated elegance. Light and feathery, with nutty flavours, bright acidity, a fine powdery tannin texture, and a firm red cherry and red fruited finish.
Pops of pretty raspberry and strawberry to start, before descending into red currant, stemmy, twiggy spice and a glimmer of liquorice root. Quite enticing and complex aromatically, with its melding of red fruit, spice and earthiness. The palate has a cooling mouthfeel, wrapping around macerated strawberry, red cherry, red currant, nutmeg and tilled earth, all gliding through the palate. The tannins are svelte and sappy, working with bright acid to a cool and even length.
Sustainability threads through and underpins our approach to everything we do. We are Justin Bubb and Anna Pooley and we have each been making wine across the globe for over 20 years. After living and working in Tasmania making wine for a number of premium vineyards throughout the state the time has come for us to release our own wines alongside working with our existing clients. Intensely aromatic, a darker fruit spectrum and complex savoury spice is interwoven seamlessly with firm, structural tannin. Sweat and sour cherries, earth, spice and a lovely elegant structure. Picardy Pinots exhibit finesse and complexity, inspired by the great Pinot Noir wines of the old world.
The finish is long and refined, with a delicate spiciness that lingers gracefully. This Pinot Noir exemplifies the finesse and complexity characteristic of its cool-climate origin, making it a benchmark for the varietal. A full fragrant nose of juniper, rose petal, and plum meld with spice notes of cardamon and sumac. The palate concentration is exceptional, a hallmark of a small yielding year on the Martinborough Terrace.
Voss is your AI wine expert that answers all your questions and guides you to that perfect bottle. The boutique took residence in 2004 inside the former Turkish Bath House inside the coveted Royal Arcade, Melbourne. I ordered this 6 weeks before my husbands birthday and it never arrive. Sue’s interest in the interaction of viticulture and other agriculture - she’s also a champion vegetable-grower! - inspired a focus on specially-selected small parcels of fruit, both at the company’s Coonawarra base and carefully curated from elsewhere in Australia. That generational change is often a collaborative one, with the hard-earned wisdom of the older but still very much active generation working alongside their often very much grown children to drive the quality ever higher.
Single Vineyard releases are regularly awarded for their purity of fruit, balance, and site expression. Sit back and take in the aromas from a glass of this pinot as you think about sitting at the top of the vineyard surrounded by cows, water, grass and all things Western District farming. We ship with Australia Post using their dedicated wine post service. All parcels are trackable and in most cases arrive in 2-3 days for east coast metro areas. As an owner and manager of community hubs right across Australia, Vicinity acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we operate and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. There’s always room for dessert – Piccolina Gelateria has arrived with the summer sunshine, serving traditional, hand-crafted, 100% natural Italian gelato made from fresh seasonal ingredients.
Maressa Pinot Noir Chadstone
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5 min read
