• Delivery
Wine clubWine clubWine clubWine club
  • Gift registry
  • Wishlist
  • FAQs
Airline pilots make surprisingly good wine. Their appreciation of the sciences, a respect for the weather and a bird's eye view of the land, all invaluable to the winemaker's art. John Ellis would take every opportune weekend away from his regular New York Paris route, to pursue a passion for viticulture. He planted the first commercial Cabernet Merlot vines in the Hamptons and found time between trans atlantic flights to work vintages amongst the Grand Cru vineyards of La Bourgogne. Ellis ultimately made the great lifelong sea change in favour of our land downunder. He settled on a farmstead outside Leongatha, amongst the slow ripening pastures of Gippsland and established a vineyard called Bellvale. It is now a place of fully mature vines and old world Burgundian techniques, sur lie et sauvage, barrel ferments and.. Placing pinot amongst the pastures»
Established 1968 by Word War II flyer Egerton E.S Dennis, on ninety acres of McLaren Flat along the prestigious winegrowing terroirs at Kangarillla Road, the Dennis family pioneered the production of Mead alongside colleague and enthusiast John Maxwell. Dennis initially sold his harvests to some of Australia's most eminent brands before founding his own label in 1971,with the object of converting the high quality fruit into pure, estate made wines. Since establishment, Dennis Wines have collected hundreds of medals at national and international wine shows, twice claiming the revered Bushing King awards for best wine at the McLaren Vale Winemakers Exhibition. A quiet achiever of bespoke old vine Shiraz with a scanty production of 5000 dozen annually, be the one & only enthusiast on your block this week to own and savour.. Dennis of kangarilla road»
Established 1976, Clairault are one of the pioneering estates on Margaret River. A tastefully limited range, from elite vineyards within the very dress circle of prestigious wineries at the heart of Margaret River's most illustrious precincts, Wilyabrup, Yallingup and Karridale. These are the dearest winegrowing terroirs in the Australian west, a place of auspicious soils and stimulating climes, the motherlode of environmentals which yield the most august vintages on the continent. The team at Clairault take a decidedly pastoral approach, biodynamically grown and environmentally sound, a sanctuary to native flora and fauna, their vineyards are managed to a completely natural agriculture. So exclusive are the wines of Clairault, that they can be hard to find, released in measured editions and allocated to long standing.. The kindly cabernet of clairault»

Kooyong Estate Pinot Noir CONFIRM VINTAGE

Pinot Noir Mornington Victoria
Kooyong is a domaine in the true sense of the word, the exclusively estate grown grapes never leave the property until well after bottling. The wines of Kooyong aim to manifest terroir, an integration of geology and soil, the mesoclime of individual parcels and the influence of Mornington's maritime clime. A culture of holistic husbandry in the vineyard and artisanal diligence throughout the vinification serves to articulate the uniqueness of Kooyong Pinot Noir, respectfully and without artifice.
Available in cartons of six
Case of 6
$305.50
A tally of clones are hand picked off fully mature vines, completely destemmed and vinified for up to three weeks in a mix of large oak foudres, cement vats and fermenters, the batches are left to self inoculate through wild and local yeasts. After completion of natural malolactic, components are filled to a selection of French oak barriques for nine months, followed by transfer to large oaken foudres for another ten months before assemblage.
Bright garnet, maroon colour. A generous, open nose of dark berries and a touch of vanilla bean. The flavour spectrum ranges from strawberries, raspberries, and boysenberries, through to cinnamon and clove, tapenade and coffee, balanced by abundant ripe, round tannins. A thickness and richness of texture, the varietal character remains pure.
Kooyong Estate
1 - 11 of 11
1
1 - 11 of 11
1
Kooyong Estate
The Kooyong Vineyard and winery are located at Tuerong on the northern end of the Mornington Peninsula

Kooyong Estate was established on a gently undulating 93 hectare property neighbouring Devilbend Reserve, home to many native water birds. The Kooyong name means where the wild fowl gather. The vineyard and winery are part of the Gjergja family domain which also includes Port Phillip Estate. Compared with more southerly vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula, Kooyong experiences a warmer, drier climate, and the light, sandy clay soil is also less vigorous than the more typical rich loam of the region. The winemaker is Sandro Mosele.

Kooyong Estate

Chris and Gail Aytward established Kooyong in 1995 after being Introduced to the wine industry when purchasing a farm at Shoreham on the Mornington Peninsula. The site contained three acres of Chardonnay vines. At this time Mornington was rapidly establishing itself as a premium Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape-growing region, as both these varieties were suited to Mornington's cool maritime climate. The Aytwards were inspired to develop a second site, specifically selected for its potential to produce top quality fruit, and today wines released under the Kooyong label comes exclusively from this site.

In 1998 plans for a large and modern winery were devised and construction began. Chris Aytward's experience as a property developer with the Grollo brothers helped immensely in the construction of an impressive winery for Kooyong's operations. State of the art equipment was installed to give the winemaking team the best possible opportunity in processing, fermenting and storing top quality wines. Kooyong Estate now lays claim to 52 acres of Pinot Noir and 27 acres of Chardonnay vines. Kooyong strives for complexity in its wines by exercising eight different clones of Pinot and ten clones of Chardonnay.

The Mornington terroir features an undulating ridge system, which receives considerable rainfall throughout the year. The soils vary from rich red clays, to lighter sandy loams depending on location. Kooyong's location was selected specifically to suit production of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay grape varieties. Many vineyards on the Mornington Peninsula struggle with excessive canopy production due to the rich fertile soils. This is often translated in the wine as green or lacking body. The sandy base of Kooyong's terroir helps reduce this vigour. Each clone has its own inherent characteristics which, when skillfully blended together by accomplished winemakers, give wine its many textures and complexity.

Kooyong Estate

Kooyong uses a variety of canopy management techniques to ensure high quality, concentrated grape production. Some of these include shoot thinning and fruit dropping. The Kooyong Estate parcels are situated on the Moorooduc flats of the Mornington Peninsula. The land Is slightly graded facing a north direction. The vineyard has been planted with rows running from South to North, which ensures maximum sunlight exposure. The vines are planted using the vertical shoot position (VSP) trellising system. The vines have been spaced out to reduce shading and increase fruit exposure to sunlight.

Wines are made on site to techniques specifically designed to deal with numerous small batches. The philosophy is to preserve the vineyard characters exhibited by the fruit. Chardonnay is whole bunch pressed and transferred to new and used French oak. Fermentation occurs naturally without yeast additions. All of the Pinot Noir fruit is hand picked and 100 per cent de-stemmed into open vat fermenters. The fruit is chilled to approximately 8-10 degrees and then allowed to warm up ambiently. Spontaneous fermentation occurs about 4-8 days later. The Massale parcels use only 10 per cent to 15 per cent new French oak. The wine is then bottled after approximately 12 months. This shorter maturation period is designed to make this wine more approachable when young. Handpicked Pinot Gris and Viognier is whole bunch pressed and transferred to used French oak. By using only old oak, the Pinot Gris wines receive the benefit of added texture without any oak flavours being imparted.

Kooyong is well equipped with an advanced irrigation system. This allows the winemaking team to administer water to each vine depending on the stress levels expressed by the vines. Kooyong's site receives less rainfall per annum than surrounding vineyards an the Mornington ridge system. The use of an irrigation network enables a high degree of control over the development of both the Pinot Noir and Chardonnay vines.

Kooyong Estate