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Mornington glory Few wine regions tick as many boxes as Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula. With incredible wine, food, adventures, pampering, beaches and bushland, this is one crowd-pleasing getaway. WORDS Sally Gudgeon PHOTOGRAPHY DAVID HANNAH
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Pictured (clockwise from top left) Stonier’s cellar door; the setting at Elgee Park; through the vines at Moorooduc Estate;
by the beach at Dromana; follow the signs and you’ll be rewarded; lunch at Merricks General Wine Store. opposite The road leading to Montalto in morning sunlight.
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(clockwise, from top) Tuck’s Ridge; Red Hill Brewery’s brewhouse; an artist at work near Flinders; Merricks General Wine Store. below
DEC 2013 / JAN 2014
www.winecompanion.com.au
Pinot noir is king in the Mornington Peninsula.
ndulating, bountiful and with dramatic views of land and sea, the Mornington Peninsula is one of Australia’s top food and wine destinations. It’s also a great place for adventures beyond the table and cellar door, including golf, water sports, bushwalking, horse riding, paragliding and even tree surfing. There are galleries galore and no trip to the region is complete without a soak in the Peninsula Hot Springs to purify the body after the gourmet indulgences and wine tastings. Better still, the region is in easy reach, just an hour’s drive from Melbourne’s south-east. There are now 200 vineyards and more than 50 cellar doors in the region. While the viticultural history of the Peninsula dates back to the 19th century, the modern story started in the 1970s, with three visionary men – Nat White, Baillieu Myer and Brian Stonier. Elgee Park was the first vineyard and celebrated its 40th anniversary last year from when ‘Bailles’ Myer first planted riesling and cabernet. Last year, he staged a cabernet tasting that spanned vintages from 1975 to 2010; it was history in a glass. While some of the wines from the 1970s were on the light
side, by the mid-1980s, the cabernets were really starting to show their potential. Forty years on, his cabernets have come of age, but on the Peninsula this is a minority variety because it is so site-specific. Three years after the Elgee vineyard was planted, in 1975 Nat White put in the first pinot noir vines at Main Ridge Estate and established the first winery in the region. Quiet, unassuming and always willing to give his time and advice, Nat has god-like status on the Peninsula, having helped many aspiring winemakers fulfill the region’s potential. Brian Stonier was next; he planted chardonnay in 1978 on his property at Merricks, followed by pinot in 1982. These 1970s pioneers therefore sowed the seeds for the remarkable wine industry that has developed on the Mornington Peninsula. Burgundy has long been an inspiration for many of the Peninsula’s winemakers, so it’s no surprise that pinot noir is now the dominant variety in the region, accounting for 50 per cent of the land under vine. The cool climate of the Peninsula suits the variety and the different soils give many different expressions to this temperamental grape. In recent years, there has been much discussion on the ➺
pinot noir is now the dominant variety in the region… The cool climate of the Peninsula suits the variety and the different soils give many different expressions to this temperamental grape.
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Lift your spirits
Wayne Klintworth and Bob Laing founded the first legal distillery in the region in 2009 with Bass & Flinders Distillery (pictured above) when they installed their 300-litre French-designed, Alembicstyle still. They opened a cellar door at Darling Park Winery last year (open 11am–5pm weekends). They use grape spirit as their base for vodkas, gins, grappa, Limoncello and Crema di Limoncello. Their big project however, is a Cognac-style brandy, which is maturing slowly in cask for a possible release in 2014.
www.bassandflinders distillery.com
Get crafty
Local craft brewers include Red Hill Brewery, which holds an open day to showcase its beers about once a month, so be sure to check dates. Mornington Peninsula Brewery is another in the region, open from Thursday to Sunday.
www.redhillbrewery.com.au www.mpbrew.com.au
Take a hike
A serious bushwalk or a gentle stroll? Whatever your speed, there’s a walk on the Peninsula for you. These longer walks can be broken into smaller sections: // The Mornington Peninsula Walk (100km) // The Two Bays Walking Track (18km) // The Coastal Walk (26km) Point Nepean Walk
www.visitmornington peninsula.org
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fancy stops
It takes time and stamina to eat your way around the Peninsula, but here are just some of the standouts to get you started.
Ten Minutes by Tractor This is a brilliant cellar door with a two-hatted restaurant overlooking the vines. Be sure to sample their wines at the tasting counter too.
DEC 2013 / JAN 2014
www.winecompanion.com.au
www.tenminutesbytractor. com.au
OPPOSITE
The inspiring outlook from Port Phillip Estate, which produces awardwinning wines.
Paringa Estate Winery & Restaurant Lindsay McCall’s winery restaurant won its first-ever Chef’s Hat this year – and deservedly so. It enjoys an outlook over the original vines he planted.
www.paringaestate.com.au
Terminus at Flinders Hotel There are two dining options within this hotel, but Terminus steps it up a notch with its fusion of North African, French and local cuisine.
www.flindershotel.com.au
Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove Dine at this hatted restaurant while enjoying a view of the vineyards and various sculptures featured throughout the grounds.
www.montalto.com.au
viability of introducing sub-regions. To make a broad generalisation, there is a significant difference between the ethereal, elegant, lighter pinots from “up the hill” and the more robust, concentrated wines from “down the hill”. But of course, the story is infinitely more complex. One of the best ways to explore this complexity is to taste different single-vineyard wines. Depending on the vintage, a number of winemakers will release more than one pinot noir to show the different qualities of individual sites. Some of these makers include Main Ridge’s Nat White, Sandro Mosele from Port Phillip Estate and Kooyong, Hurley Vineyard’s Kevin Bell and George Mihaly from Paradigm Hill (see suggestions on page 99). There are certain sites on the Peninsula where it’s often too warm to make good pinot, but where shiraz prospers. Similar to cabernet’s position in the region, shiraz is a niche style for the Peninsula. The vignerons who plant
Port Phillip Estate If you love this winery’s dramatic architecture and fine wine and food, extend the experience and retreat to one of their six special accommodation suites.
www.portphillip estate.com.au
it produce some of the most outstanding cool-climate styles in Australia, such as Paringa Estate, Paradigm Hill, Darling Park (Hugh Robinson Vineyard), Port Phillip Estate and Avani. Formerly known as Wildcroft, Avani is one of the more unusual sites in the region. Tucked away on Stanley’s Road in Red Hill South, this warm, sheltered 10-acre vineyard is planted exclusively with shiraz. Owner Shashi Singh, who bought the vineyard with her husband in 1998, labels it syrah, denoting the supple, delicate, ethereal style of her wines. After extensive tastings of the many different varieties once grown in the vineyard, Shashi decided on syrah because of its unique flavour, texture and structure, and so she regrafted the vineyard and converted to biodynamics in 2005. “The vines are in tune with the cosmos and the plants start to grow intelligently,” Shashi says of the difference this has made. Then there are the delicious white wines of the region, including ➺
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There are certain sites on the Peninsula where it’s often too warm to make good pinot, but where shiraz prospers. Similar to cabernet’s position in the region, shiraz is a niche style for the Peninsula.
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PICTURED
(clockwise from right) Pinot noir and chardonnay are the region’s hero varieties; in full swing at Montalto; entering picturesque Darling Park.
the casual stops Photography // courtesy Yabby Lake
Merricks General Wine Store Sample wines from Balnarring Vineyard, Elgee Park and Baillieu while you build up an appetite here.
www.mgwinestore.com.au
Foxeys Hangout A range of share plates are on offer on weekends only, but get in early to beat the rush. You can also book in to learn how to blend your own sparkling wine.
www.foxeys-hangout.com.au
Johnny Ripe This bakery/restaurant serves up three-course dinners on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday lunches for $60 a head. It’s BYO too so you can bring your new favourites.
www.facebook.com/ JohnnyRipe
Darling Park Winery Expect light dishes and seasonal platters at this winery that’s open daily for lunch and tastings.
www.darlingparkwinery.com
Yabby Lake This cellar door cafe is open daily for lunch and the wines are a must-stop on any tasting tour.
www.yabbylake.com
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Want a taste of the Peninsula At home? single vineyard pinot noir
chardonnay, pinot gris and tiny plots of riesling. Chardonnay is a key grape, accounting for around 25 per cent of the vineyard area and it’s the variety that performs the most consistently in the region, producing some stunning wines from Main Ridge, Ocean Eight, Moorooduc Estate, Kooyong, Ten Minutes By Tractor, Stonier Wines, Paringa Estate, Eldridge Estate, Willow Creek, Elgee Park, Prancing Horse and Foxeys Hangout, to name a few. In terms of vineyard area, pinot gris comes third (around 11 per cent). Kevin McCarthy and Kathleen Quealy first planted it at T’Gallant in 1992 and inspired many others to follow – more than 50 wineries on the Peninsula now produce a gris or grigio style. Kevin and Kathleen now own the Balnarring Vineyard and this grape remains a major focus. It features in the varietal wines Kathleen makes, as well as in her delicious white blend, Pobblebonk. When it comes to food to accompany the wonderful array of wines in the
region, there are plenty of choices, from fine dining to pizza, tapas or a cheese platter. Merricks General Wine Store is a great starting point. Park the car there, wander up to Stonier Wines for a wine tasting, then maybe walk along the Merricks trail to Red Hill and return before lunch. The Merricks General Wine Store bistro menu offers casual snacks such as Croque Madame or a tasting platter and more substantial dishes, such as the succulent corned beef with mash or the crunchy duck salad. The store is also the cellar door for Elgee Park, Baillieu and Balnarring Vineyard wines, and the cottage next door is an art space that is also available for private functions. Beaches and bays also abound in the region, with a range of nature trails for the active. You can even take a wine tour with a difference – on horseback. With so many choices on how to spend your time, and way too many dining options for just the one trip, this is a region you will want to return to again.
✚ Main Ridge Estate The Acre {$60}, The Half Acre {$70} ✚ Kooyong Single Vineyard Meres {$75}, Single Vineyard Haven {$75} and The Single Vineyard {$75} ✚ Ten Minutes By Tractor Judd {$85}, McCutcheon {$75}, Wallis {$85} ✚ Stonier Windmill {$65}, Lyncroft {$55}, KBS {$75} ✚ Tuck’s Ridge Buckle {$100} ✚ Paradigm Hill L’Ami Sage {$60}, Les Cinq {$80} ✚ Foxeys Hangout Kentucky Road 777 {$60}, Scotsworth Farm {$60} Wines outside the square
✚ Crittenden Estate Peninsula Fumee Blanc {$30} ✚ Foxeys Hangout Fortified Shiraz {$28} ✚ Quealy Rageous (a blend of sangiovese, shiraz, pinot) {$35} ✚ Quealy Moscato {$25} ✚ Elan Vineyard Riesling {$22} ✚ Prancing Horse Nebbiolo {$58} ✚ Eldridge Estate Gamay {$35} ✚ Darling Park Sauvignon Blanc {$26} ✚ Phaedrus Rose {$22} wineries to seek out
Red Hill Epicurean Fill up on great bread and pizzas, and you can also take cooking and wine masterclasses here too.
www.redhill epicurean.com.au
Main Ridge Dairy Open weekends, here you can take a dairy tour or even a cheese-making workshop before digging into a tasting platter.
www.mainridgedairy.com.au
Dee’s Kitchen Middle Eastern and Mediterranean flavours are incorporated into the seasonal dishes available here daily.
www.deeskitchen.com.au
✚ Prancing Horse Estate ✚ Vidoni Estate ✚ Ocean Eight ✚ Crittenden Estate ✚ Eldridge Estate of Red Hill ✚ Paringa Estate ✚ Yabby Lake ✚ Montalto Vineyard & Olive Grove