Mornington Peninsula: Australia’s Pinot Coast

Matthew Jukes has worked in the wine business for 35 years. He is an expert on Australian wine and in 2012 he was made Honorary Australian of the Year in the UK by the Australia Day Foundation. He joins an eminent list of Honorary Australians, including Lord Carrington, Baroness Greenfield and Sir David Attenborough. Matthew has written a weekly article for MoneyWeek since 2006 and a weekly column for the Daily Mail’s Weekend Magazine for over twenty years. With over nine million readers a week, Matthew has the most keenly followed wine column in the UK. He has been writing about wine for two decades and has penned fourteen wine books. He now concentrates on four annual Reports, covering Bordeaux, Burgundy, Piemonte and Australia, which are published on his website. 

Kate McIntyre is never away from the Mornington Peninsula for too long. This Master of Wine, wine judge, writer and speaker, and head of marketing for Moorooduc Estate travels often, but all tracks lead back Moorooduc Estate. Achieving a Master of Wine qualification is one of the hardest things this ex-theatre and language student has ever done. Now in demand internationally for her wine expertise with fewer than 400 Master of Wine authorities currently in existence, Kate shares her wine knowledge on the world stage. From being ‘dragged’ to Moorooduc Estate on the weekends as a teenager and refusing to be involved in the business which her parents Richard and Jill established in 1982, to falling in love with wine while working in a bottle shop in her twenties, Kate’s specialist knowledge and profound understanding of the wine industry now resonates across the globe.

After a wine epiphany with a Seville Estate Shiraz in 1980 leading him to plant a vineyard on an old orchard in Paringa Rd in 1984, this Economics graduate and ex-geography teacher who grew up milking cows, continued to teach while establishing the vineyard and winery after his first commercial vintage in 1988. Fast forward to 1995 when Lindsay was finally able to ‘give up his day job’ and become a full-time vigneron, and onto 2007 when Paringa Estate won the inaugural Halliday award for best winery in Australia, he hasn’t looked back. Lindsay has no formal wine training, but he has won more than 100 wine show trophies for his Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Shiraz. A true pioneer of all things wine on the Mornington Peninsula, this hands-on winemaker with one of the few Pinot Noirs in the highly regarded Langton’s Classification, continues to excel and innovate.

Committed to creating true to origin quality wines and best vineyard care for choice fruit creation, Ten Minutes by Tractor produces elegant, award-winning wines sprung from the Mornington Peninsula’s excellent grape-growing maritime climate. Martin’s mission to share “the naturally developing intense flavours produced during the long ripening season on the Peninsula” with the rest of the world is palpable. From his tech company CEO history to purchasing Ten Minutes by Tractor with his wife Karen in 2004 and going on to produce his dream Chardonnay and Pinot Noir varieties from three incredible vineyards ten minutes apart by tractor in the region, Martin is a dedicated champion of Australian cool-climate wines. Ever asking what is needed to grow the best fruit, his ongoing authentic enthusiasm delivers.

Glen Hayley’s winemaking philosophy is driven by authenticity; wine that speaks of place, preserving the character of the fruit and celebrating the vineyard in which it was grown. It is the fine balance between scrupulous attention to detail and minimal intervention that allows wine to fully express provenance. Glen completed a Bachelor of Viticultural Science and Wine Production, while working in cool and warm climate wineries across Australia, France, Germany, New Zealand and the USA. His time with premium new world Chardonnay and Pinot Noir producers in Central Otago and Sonoma County, along with a concentration on white wines in the Loire Valley and the Mosel, helped shape his thinking. His desire to focus on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay saw Glen join Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate in 2009. In 2015 Glen became Chief Winemaker.

Mike Aylward’s passion-driven efforts to make excellent wine originated nearly two decades ago when he worked part-time at his family’s then winery Kooyong. With the 2011 Australian Young Gun of Wine award beneath his viticultural belt, Ocean Eight has evolved into his full-time obsession with two key elements front and centre of his winemaking mantra: excellence in wine to food pairing and authentic representation of Mornington Peninsula climate and grape growing conditions. Taking several tours of renowned vineyards and cellars throughout Burgundy in France to further cultivate his viticultural experience while his first crops ripened on the vine, Ocean Eight wines now reflect Mike’s travels and dedication to producing wine sprung from his thirst for distinction. This commitment from Ocean Eight’s first release wine to present day, continues to ensure Ocean Eight brings the highest quality wine to the Mornington Peninsula. 

Passion for wine is in Paul Scorpo’s blood. It is a whole family operation stretching across generations and geography – from Sicily to Sardinia and now Australia. Researching the Mornington Peninsula’s cool, maritime microclimates, he knew this region was the perfect place for their project. Driving through the ridge systems in 1996, he happened upon a ‘For Sale’ sign on a parcel of land – a defunct cherry and apple orchard originally planted in the 1900s – nestled in the rolling hills halfway between Port Phillip Bay and Westernport. Amongst, the pine trees, abandoned stables, machinery sheds and Welsh ponies; he could see the untapped potential of the site. Today, the Scorpo family vineyard in Merricks North brings together old world practices with new world flavour.  Paul combines the family heritage with expertise in growing premium grapes, meticulous attention to site selection, and a best practice approach to vineyard management and processes, trusting the old axiom that great fruit makes great wine.

Rollo Crittenden has had the privilege of studying and working in many of the world’s most acclaimed wineries and wine regions. After completing vintages in California, Oregon, Italy and the Hunter Valley he commenced full-time work with Dromana Estate on the Mornington Peninsula, becoming head winemaker in 2003, and in 2007 at the age of 30, returned to the family business Crittenden Estate to a mature vineyard he’d helped plant 25 years earlier. As winemaker, Rollo embarked on producing classic French and Italian varieties as well as Spanish style, and received the 2010 Australian Young Gun of Wine award. His deep commitment to the long-term sustainability of the land has been instrumental in the business being awarded a number of internationally acclaimed Sustainable Wine-Growing awards, while sitting on the Membership Committee for Australian Grape and Wine and as a member of the ASVO, cements his dedication to Mornington Peninsula wine excellence.

Mike Symons’ passion for winemaking and viticulture began at Petaluma Winery in South Australia in 1989 and is based on achieving a natural balance in the vineyard and allowing the wine’s natural flavours developed in the vineyard to flourish with minimal intervention from the winery. Gaining a deep understanding of the importance of matching varieties with the right sites while working at Petaluma and consecutively working two vintages in Bordeaux followed by post-graduate studies in Montpellier France, Mike moved to Italy to work for the acclaimed Antinori family in 1996 before returning to Australia. With more time spent at Petaluma before joining Stonier in 2008, and currently heading the team which thrives under his stewardship, Mike creates some of the finest Chardonnay and Pinot Noir in Australia.