Pelican does Scorpo wines

[Pelican]

The wines of Scorpo ( a 4.5ha vineyard on the Mornington Penninsula in Victoria ) were on tasting recently in Adelaide. I usually find it hard to taste at these admirably free tastings as it is usually crowded and noisy etc. So instead I just bought a bottle of each and drank them at home.

The wines come in a hefty Burgundy style bottle and I noted that they are starting to use the Diam corks ( certainly on the 2004 Shiraz). I have read that they are taking great care in the vineyard and winery which should equate with interesting wines.

They make 5 wines :

2004 Scorpo Mornington Penninsula Pinot Noir Rose ( $ 16.99 ) : Lovely savoury rose with real poise. My favourite rose of the Summer. Excellent. Carried its 2 years of age with ease too. Had 2 bottles of this so I could buy a neat 6 bottles all up.

2003 Scorpo Mornington Penninsula Chardonnay ( $ 27.99 ) : Admirably youthful colour. Grapefruity spectrum of citrus with , for me , a touch of bitterness detracting from this being truly top wine.

2005 Scorpo Mornington Penninsula Pinot Gris ( $ 27.99 ) : I often find Pinot Gris too thick , sweet and heavy going. This was less so than most. Clean and pristine. Good but my least favourite of the range.

2003 Scorpo Mornington Penninsula Pinot Noir ( $ 29.99 ) : I thought this was quite subdued and perhaps lightly corked although cork nazi Pelicanette reckons it was OK so I dunno really. Drank it anyway. Judgement reserved. Sooner this comes in Diam the better.

2004 Scorpo Mornington Penninsula Shiraz ( $ 35.99 ) : Interestingly the most expensive of the range. Very young. Gave it a good 12 hour decant. Nice lighter style of Shiraz with good raspberry fruit. Needs some time I think.

CONCLUSIONS : Scorpo is a high quality operation. I enjoyed the Rose the most due to its genuine savouriness. The wines are clean , bright and have some " soul " I reckon. At the highest level I could imagine the wines being better - which may come with the maturing of the vines as I think the vineyard is relatively young.

[rwatkins]

I have had the Scorpo P.N. 2003 twice ($33.00 Canadian) and I would take it over a $50+ Burgundy. Lovely fruit and great "stinky" Pinot nose.
Thanks - Rick