MORNINGTON PENINSULA
Area under vine:
Nearly 1,000 hectares.
Important Producers:
Hurley Vineyard
Kooyong
Main Ridge Estate
Montalto
Paradigm Hill
Paringa Estate
Port Phillip Estate
Stoniers
Ten Minutes By Tractor
With more than 60 wineries and over 200 vineyards, the Mornington Peninsula has transitioned from being thought of as little more than a playground for doctors and lawyers who liked the idea of a small patch of vines from which they could produce their own wines, to a world-class area making high-quality cool-climate wines. Certainly an active Vignerons Association (MPVA) and a biennial ‘International Pinot Noir Celebration’ has both raised the profile, and improved the quality of the local wines.
It is indisputable that Pinot Noir is the standard-bearer for the region, with styles ranging from fine, elegant and subtle through to powerful, ripe and forthright, and everything in between. Yet there are also magnificent Chardonnays produced here too, as well as noteworthy examples of Shiraz, Pinot Gris and other varieties as well. A maritime and relatively temperate climate, a range of soils, and expanding clonal diversity add diversity to the range of specific sites with their own idiosyncrasies.
Whilst small plantings have existing sporadically on the Peninsula since the 19th century, current viticulture traces its roots back to the early 1970s with Bailleau Myer at Elgee Park, and commercially, to Nat and Rosalie White at Main Ridge Estate, which was established in 1975. Throughout the 1980s a number of important vineyards were planted and wineries created, which today form something of an ‘old guard’ for the region - the likes of Paringa Estate, Stoniers, t’Gallant and Dromana Estate.