The Auswine Forum

Ladies and Gentlemen:

IÂ’m trying to figure out what are the best wineries for Pinot Noir that I can fit into a single day in the Mornington Peninsula. We see very few if any of these wines over here , so I'm essentially starting from scratch.

From the MPVA web site it seems that the wineries have different times when they are open (some all week, others on the weekend, others by appointment, etc).

So far I have a list that includes Stonier, Paringa Estate, Red Hill Estate, Dromana Estate, Eldridge Estate, and Marinda that could be visited on any day.

If we can get there on the Sunday (Dec 4th) then we can do Mooroodoc and Port Philip Estate. And as its the first weekend of the month we could also go to Hurley.

Yabby Lake and Kooyong are by appointment only but they would be possibilities after I make some enquiries. Are these two as good as some of the scores I have seen?

IÂ’d really only like to do 5 or 6 wineries as IÂ’m the one doing the driving, and we will have arrived from San Diego on the Saturday so jet lag is a possibility. (Plus I have to mentally convert from driving on the right-hand side of the road.)

All opinions on what are worthwhile are welcome. Especially any comments on whether the cellar doors have their best wines available or whether you have to make a specific request/appointment to taste the good stuff?

Mike

PS If anyone has any advice on good places for lunch and dinner on the Peninsula could you please reply to my post in the Food and Wine section.

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From my oncer there I would chuck Red Hill, but definitely include Tuck's Ridge and Main Ridge, +/- Crittenden (though was good for lunch)

I was down there for a day earlier this year and posted this to alt.food.wine on April 3 in response to a thread about Marinda Park Pinot.

Hi Matt (and others )
I went down to the MP on Saturday and popped into Marinda park to try the rest of their range. I was a little underwhelmed by most of what they had to offer. The 2002 Pinot received 41/2 stars in the latest Winestate but that wasn't on tasting (sold out I was told) the 2003 pinot was pretty good, some nice primary fruit and very chalky (MP) tannins with good strucuture, needs 2 or 3 years to come together. The 2003 merlot was a very well structured, bordeaux style wine (the owner was pouring and she told us that they model their merlot on Chateau Petrus, a little way still to go I think) that also had the distinctive chalky tannins. We didn't buy anything here (I still have 4 of the 03 Norm's Noir at home) which is fairly indicitave I think.

We had lunch earlier at Montalto vineyard and the food was fantastic. It has 1 hat in the Good Food guide and delivered really tasty well crafted food with outstanding sauces on everything we ate. Tasted here before lunch and drank their wines during & 2 wines stood out. 1995 Pennon Hill (their second label) Late Disgorged Pinot Chardonnay Sparkling. This was excellent, a big vegemite (yeast lees for non aussies) nose. In the mouth it was yeasty & biscuity balanced with a lovely fresh and lively fruit component with some apple and a touch of citrus. Good mousse and fine bead, what more can you ask for (6 of these in the boot at $28 each. This wasn't available for tasting but we had it with lunch). The 2003 Montalto Pinot was also excellent (3 of these in the boot at $35 each) a touch of sweaty saddle on the nose with ripe black fruit. Firm and tightly structured wine (chalky tannins again) the fruit dominates the palate, cherries, plums and berries all in attendance, good long finish. This wine will benefit with a year or two in a cool dark place.

The stop of the day however was Stumpy Gully Vineyard. I have 3 of these on the wine list at work I like them so much. We tasted from start to finish, 14 in all. The wines here are all very very well made, clean and bright and true to variety, the whites were Sav Blanc Semilllon, Pinot G, Marsanne, Chardonnay, Riesling (the 2004 is outstanding, if you find it buy it) Botrytis Riesling & Fortified Sav Blanc (white port). I brought a box of the Riesling ($19 each) lemon, lime & flint with fantastic acidity, this will develop over 10 years. Picked up also 2 bottles of the fortified Sav Blanc ($19 each for 375's) The reds however are the real stars here, the 2003 Pinot is outstanding. Bright garnet with a smoky bbq meat nose interlaced with dark fruit. Big bright and perfectly balanced in the mouth, dark fruit, plenty of spice and of course chalky tannins. Very long finish. (4 in the boot @ $20 each) The reserve merlot is an enormous wine, a huge Plummy sniff with a touch of prune & some spicy smoky oak. Plums follow through in the mouth with the spicy, oaky component topped with well judged (chalky) tannins. Long, long lip smacking finish, this wine is much more Petrus than Marinda Parks. (5 of these in the boot @ $45 each) Also picked up Sangiovese in two years. The 2001 is pure Chianti Classico, soft, rich and very very tasty. (2 in the boot @ $20) the 2003 however is an absolute freak. This wine was nearly not harvested as the grapes were looking quite manky at vintage, a bit of botrytis, some hail damage etc. They crushed it anyway and after 10 months in a mix of oaks this incredible wine has emerged. Deep dark red with a rich red fruit nose (raspberries mostly) this is under cut with a complex swirl of spice, earth, tobacco & some smoky oak. This is unbelievably rich and silky in the mouth, a burst of fruit flavours, raspberries, cherries, blackberries followed by deep, rich secondary flavours with a long evolving finish. I loved this wine and the bad news is that they only ended up with about a pallet of wine and as of yesterday there were only 11 cases left at the winery. (12 of these in the boot @ $25 each.) I'd urge you to get down there ASAP and put some of this into your cellar. I was assured that the winemaker has no idea how she made this wine and is under no illusion that she can ever reproduce it. The Crooked Post Reserve Shiraz I have written of in this forum earlier (4 Feb 05) and I had to pick up another 3 at $75 each. All up a very good day with 25 wines tasted and 9 in the boot. Look forward to getting down there again.
Cheers Andrew