Patty's Pinot Closet publishes this newsletter on the enjoyment and appreciation of Pinot Noir. We welcome you to enjoy the newsletters and to share them with others. You can find past newsletters at www.pinotnoirs.com Each newsletter covers a different Pinot Noir growing area in the world. Areas covered include California, Oregon, British Columbia, New Zealand, Australia, South Africa and France. You can find past newsletters at www.pinotnoirs.com If you cannot see the links or images in this e-mail, Click Here or cut and paste this URL into your browser's address field: http://www.pinotnoirs.com/newsletters.html Mornington Peninsula Victoria, AU This, my 21st newsletter, covers Pinot Noirs from Australia's Mornington Peninsula. I tasted at wineries, wine festivals, and during very lovely dinners and lunches.

Food, Wine & Accommodations

Food
The Mornington Peninsula abounds with wonderful food. I'll never forget the Venison, Beetroot, and Raspberries served at the Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration. They combined very rare Venison with beets and raspberries. After the Venison, the restaurant served Fresh Black Figs with a Balsamic Syrup. The Long Table Restaurant prepared these dishes at a luncheon - of course served with Pinot Noir.

Venison, Beetroot, and Raspberries

Recipes
Beetroots (just beets to us in the US) stood out the most for me in this area. When I got home I developed this recipe for beets using Pinot Noir.

Pinot Noir Beets

1 dozen small whole cooked beets

1 Tbsp flour

2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground Allspice

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Tbsp Raspberry Vinegar

1 Tbsp lemon juice

1/2 cup Pinot Noir

2 Tbsp Butter

Mix together the flour, sugar, salt, pepper and Allspice. Add to these the vinegar, lemon juice, and dry red wine. Cook this mixture slowly until thick, stirring constantly. Then mix in the small whole cooked beets, and heat thoroughly. Then add the butter, stir it in, and serve.

Mornington Peninsula Restaurants

Chef James Redfern of the Vines of Red Hill Restaurant with Patty.

Vines of Red Hill.
Chef James Redfern's restaurant presents an air of spaciousness and elegant simplicity. The walls are hung with selected works of local artists. Large windows open onto a north-facing dinning terrace. Chef Redfern insists on local ingredients such as cheese, berries, fruit, vegetables and wild fish from the local bays.
www.vinesofredhill.com.au

The Long Table.
Andrew & Samantha Doughton own The Long Table in Red Hill South. They produced the wonderful Venison, Beetroot, and Raspberries.
www.thelongtable.com.au

Tractor Restaurant & Wine Bar.
At this lovely restaurant overlooking the vineyards I enjoyed the best Quail I'd ever eaten.
www.tenminutesbytractor.com.au

Barmah Park Vineyard Café (lunch).
Wonderful Flourless Orange & Almond Cake at Barmah Park Vineyard Café.
www.barmahparkwines.com.au

Lindenderry at Red Hill
	Mornington Peninsula Accommodations Lindenderry at Red Hill Lindenderry at Red Hill sits amid gardens, lawns and a vineyard. There are 40 guestrooms, each individually decorated, with spa baths and open fires in premium rooms. Each room reveals its own view, of private courtyards or the exquisite gardens and vineyards surrounding this Mornington Peninsula hotel. www.lindenderry.com.au
	Things To Do In Mornington Peninsula The Mornington Peninsula features wineries, restaurant's, galleries and picturesque villages among the rolling vine-clad hills. The Mornington Peninsula Vignerons website contains information about this area. www.mpva.com.au
	The Official Website of Mornington Peninsula Tourism and Visitor Information also contains valuable information for visitors to this area. www.visitmorningtonpeninsula.org

Wine Festivals

Click Here for a complete list of Pinot Noir Wine Festivals. If you have a Pinot Noir festival you would like to add send a note to pat@pinotnoirs.com

Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia Pinot Noir

Mornington Peninsula, Victoria, Australia

One hour south of Melbourne, and surrounded by Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay and Bass Strait, the Mornington Peninsula possesses a cool maritime environment. Many of the 61 wineries offer spectacular views of the Bays. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Pinot Gris have emerged as the principal wines from the Peninsula.

Wine production on the Peninsula dates back to 1886, when Dromana wine won an honorable mention in the Intercontinental Exhibition. In 1891, a Royal Commission into the Fruit and Vegetable Industry mentioned fourteen Peninsula grape growers. In the 1920s, owners abandoned or uprooted many of the Mornington Peninsula's vineyards. In the 1950s, Seppelt and Seabrook operated a vineyard in Dromana, but fire destroyed it in 1967.

The rebirth of the region's wine industry began in 1972. A number of Vignerons (wine producers) independently recognized the Mornington Peninsula's unique maritime climate. Like Burgundy, they believed the Mornington Peninsula capable of producing high quality cool climate varieties. The maritime influence provides relatively high summer humidity and rainfall. The coincidence of late ripening and a prolonged gentle autumn, result in fully ripe grapes with outstanding fruit flavors, high natural acidity and fine tannins.

The variations in weather, soil and other natural factors within the region enable a fascinating variety of premium Pinot Noir styles. In Australia there are 15 significant clones of Pinot Noir, of which the most commonly planted is MV6. Originally from Clos Veugeot, France, the MV6 clone has a floppy canopy, small bunches and berries, concentrated plumy and meaty characters, and great structure as a "foundation" clone in a blend. Newer clones, including those known as the Dijon or Bernard clones such as 114, 115, 667 and 777 have begun to appear at Mornington Peninsula vineyards in recent years. At the end of my newsletter I've included the Glossary entry for "Clone".

The Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association (MPVA)'s website contains information on the area and the wineries.
www.mpva.com.au

Wineries

The Mornington Peninsula boasts 61 wineries and more than 200 vineyards. Most of these wineries are small independent producers. At bottling time many employ the use of the Portable Bottlers. This long truck and trailer pull into a small producer and set up their bottling line. In no time at all the cases of wine are appearing out the end of the truck.

Portable Bottling line used by many small wineries.

Silverwood Wines, Balnarring, Mornington Peninsula www.silverwoodwines.com.au Paul and Denise Dennis' year of living in France provided the impetus to turn a lifelong goal into reality - becoming Vignerons. This French connection remains strong with study trips to Burgundy and recruiting a young French winemaker for a recent vintage at Silverwood. They meticulously hand tend their vines. They farm using an environmentally sensitive and sustainable philosophy. They strive to produce wines expressing their site. Their pinot noir exhibits deep colors, great body and intensity of flavor. Their wine making technique uses minimal intervention to ensure that the characteristics are true to the site. Available in many of Australia's finest restaurants, at this time the Silverwood Wines are not available through a Distributor in the US. If you want to try their wines contact them through their website. Voice of the Vine, (now Acapella Wine Company) Tuerong, Mornington Peninsula www.peninsulaestate.com.au The 80.5 acre estate crowns the Coolart Hills with breathtaking views over Westernport Bay to French Island, Tortoise Head, and Phillip Island. The property also features spectacular botanical gardens incorporating three lakes, a bushland area and adjoining wetlands. Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Riesling make up the currently planted 35 acres. Jeremy Magyar, Winemaker, heads up the making of these wonderful wines.

Paul Dennis, Silverwood Wines, with their Pinot Noir vines under the netting.

Gardens at Voice of the Vine Vineyards.

About my scores: I believe that no one gains by embarrassing someone or something, be it my husband, my children, someone’s wine, a co-worker, a subordinate, an enemy or a friend. I therefore, try to never criticize a person or a thing. I believe in keeping my life and surroundings positive. So, I rate all the wines I taste and then draw a cut-off line at 85 points. Who knows, maybe that wine that got an 84 was just having a bad day — why make it worse!

About Scoring: As I go around to Wine Events I hear a lot about Wine Scoring. At the “Women in Wine Seminar” many of the speakers (not all) seemed to feel that numerical scoring for wine was wrong — not the womanly way! They seemed to feel that some kind of “Wishy-Washy” system like good, bad, or ugly would be better. Having been formally educated as a mathematician I first like to see a numerical score. Second, I like to see a description where I can look for key words important to me such as Black Cherry, Dense, Earthy, etc. Third, I recommend to wine enthusiasts that they look for wine critics who like what they like and stick with them — it’s a three step formula for finding wines you’ll enjoy.

With that, here are my scores and descriptions for Pinot Noirs from Central Otago and a few from other areas of New Zealand.

Wines

Patty's Pinot Closet lists all the wines reviewed in current and past newsletters. We've included a price taken from the winery website or other retail sources if possible. They are included for relative comparison only, your price may be different. All prices in this newsletter are in US dollars unless stated otherwise. Note: A$ = Australian dollars.

Glossary:
Clone – In the case of Pinot Noir this refers to a whole family of grape vines that although having very similar characteristics also have subtle differences. In the French catalogue of grape varieties cultivated in France, 1000 different clones of Pinot Noir are described.
Mutations (genetic changes) – occur under the influence of factors such as heat, radiation, including UV light and chemicals. The longer a vine exists the more likely it is that one of the mutagens will cause a new clone to appear. Pinot Noir is one of the oldest grape varieties and as such many clones have formed.

You can find more definitions in my wine glossary at www.pinotnoirs.com

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