The Moss Wood Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir Project

Pinot Noir has been an important part of the Moss Wood portfolio since the 1977 vintage. Yet, for many, it is something of a curiosity that we make this wine when Margaret River, in general and Moss Wood, in particular, are so highly regarded for Cabernet Sauvignon-based wines. The explanation is simple. In terms of both its viticulture and oenology, Pinot Noir is one of the most interesting and beguiling of wines to make, and drink. While all varieties will exhibit responses to regional and seasonal differences or management inputs, Pinot Noir is extremely sensitive and will respond to the very smallest tweak. So, while we love Cabernet Sauvignon for its robust consistency, we can’t help but be captivated and challenged by Pinot Noir. Furthermore, over more than 30 years, the Moss Wood vineyard has proved itself capable of producing wines that cellar for at least 20 years and develop a fine and complex bottle bouquet, something of which we are immensely proud.

Given our knowledge of, and experience with, Pinot Noir, we have always had a yearning to try our skills on Pinot Noir wines from more highly regarded regions. Indeed, during the 1990’s we produced wines from the Pemberton region in Western Australia and this gave us confidence to look even further afield for sources of good fruit. In Australia, the most likely locations are found in southern Victoria and Tasmania, where regions like Geelong, Macedon, Gippsland, Yarra Valley, Coal River Valley and Tamar Valley have numerous outstanding producers. Each of these places has regional characteristics that allow them to produce Pinot Noir styles of high quality. However, we have been consistently impressed with the wines from the Mornington Peninsula and it is from there we have chosen to source grapes.

Of course, it is not possible to give a brief summary of the benefits the region offers but there are some important reasons behind our choice. Curiously the area has much in common with Margaret River and perhaps this shows some inherent bias in our choice. Both regions share a maritime climate but instead of being surrounded on three sides by the Indian Ocean, Mornington is moderated by Port Phillip and Westernport Bays and Bass Straight. Similarly, both regions have rolling hills and therefore a topography that produces subtle but significant changes in aspect and soil type. These result in interesting variations in wine style. There is, however, a key difference – the temperature. Moss Wood at around 34 degrees south latitude is warm enough to ripen Cabernet Sauvignon, whereas Dromana, at around 38 degrees is only warm enough to ripen Pinot Noir.

Within the region, there is quite broad a range of wine styles depending on where the vineyards are situated but importantly, all the Mornington Peninsula wines display fruit aromas that can be described as classical Pinot Noir, with perhaps a leaning to its finer, spicier spectrum. Our grapes are sourced from a location near the town of Dromana on the lower slopes below Red Hill. The vineyard is managed according to our Moss Wood specifications, although some of the techniques are modified to meet the requirements of the different region. Although disease controls are similar, the canopy management system is slightly different. The vines have lower vigour and are trained using simple vertical shoot positioning, rather than the Scott Henry system we use at Moss Wood. We also use more aggressive leaf removal at Margaret River because the risk of sunburn is greater in Mornington.

Winemaking is also carried out in Mornington, so the wine is grown, vintage and bottled in the region. Production is carefully specified and is virtually identical to the technique we use for Moss Wood Margaret River Pinot Noir. Clare and Keith visit the region on a regular basis to review progress and are always on hand to oversee the key stages.