The Mornington Peninsula is an
Australian wine
The Australian wine industry is one of the world's largest exporters of wine, with approximately 800 million out of the 1.2 to 1.3 billion litres produced annually exported to overseas markets. The wine industry is a significant contributor ...
region located south of
Melbourne, Victoria. The region has a cool climate making wine growing ideal and focuses on
Pinot noir production but has had success with other varietals including
Chardonnay,
Pinot gris
Pinot Gris, Pinot Grigio (, ) or Grauburgunder is a white wine grape variety of the species ''Vitis vinifera''. Thought to be a mutant clone of the Pinot Noir variety, it normally has a grayish-blue fruit, accounting for its name, but the gra ...
and
Tempranillo
Tempranillo (also known as Ull de Llebre, Cencibel, Tinto Fino and Tinta del Pais in Spain, Aragonez or Tinta Roriz in Portugal, and several other synonyms elsewhere) is a black grape variety widely grown to make full-bodied red wines in its ...
. The region is known for its medium bodied, dry wines and sparkling wines that show structure and complexity. The still wine versions of Chardonnay reflect a diversity of styles, all typically oaked, from more citrus to more tropical fruit flavors.
[C. Fallis, editor ''The Encyclopedic Atlas of Wine'' pg 423-429 Global Book Publishing 2006 ]
Geography and climate
The Peninsula features a benign
maritime climate
An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate, is the humid temperate climate sub-type in Köppen classification ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of continents, generally featuring cool summers and mild winters ...
with an average vintage temperature of . Soils differ greatly across the region, ranging from sandy flatlands around
Moorooduc and
Tuerong, pale brown alluvial soils at
Dromana on the northern coastline to the deep russet volcanic soils between
Merricks and
Balnarring
Balnarring is a town in the south-eastern extremity of the Mornington Peninsula in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, approximately south-east of Melbourne's Central Business District, located within the Shire of Mornington Peninsula local go ...
and the south coast.
The whole region sits between 25 and 250 metres and receives an average of 350mm rainfall during the growing season.
History
The first plantings were in 1886 when wine produced from fruit planted at Dromana won an honourable mention at the Intercontinental Exhibition.
An 1891 Royal Commission on Fruit and Vegetables states there were six registered vineyards in the region. By the turn of the century, economic decline, the threat of
phylloxera and changing palatal preference impacted considerably on cool climate viticulture in Australia and by the 1920s these vineyards had been abandoned.
The next attempt came in the 1950s when
Seppelt Seppelt is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* Benno Seppelt (1846–1931), South Australian winemaker, son of Joseph
*Hajo Seppelt
Hajo Seppelt (born 1963) is a German journalist and author.
Personal life and educati ...
planted in Dromana, however, this would be destroyed by bushfire in 1967.
Continuous production in the region finally began in 1972 when vines were planted at Mornington. The first commercial winery opened at Main Ridge in 1978, its first fruit was picked in 1980.
International Pinot Noir Celebration
The Mornington Peninsula International Pinot Noir Celebration is a popular event which is held biennially since 2003 and is hosted by the Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association (MPVA). It displays the region's capabilities at producing some of Australia's finest Pinot Noir in front of local and international audiences. In 2016, the Victorian Government announced a funding of $7500 for the expansion of the event. It has helped in benefiting pinot noir growers and wineries across the Mornington Peninsula by promoting the region in international markets, supporting export sales and wine tourism.
See also
*
Victorian wine
Victorian wine is wine made in the Australian state of Victoria. With over 600 wineries, Victoria has more wine producers than any other Australian wine-producing state but ranks third in overall wine production due to the lack of a mass bulk w ...
*
Mornington Peninsula
The Mornington Peninsula is a peninsula located south of Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. It is surrounded by Port Phillip to the west, Western Port to the east and Bass Strait to the south, and is connected to the mainland in the north. Geo ...
References
External links
Discover Mornington PeninsulaMornington Peninsula Vignerons AssociationMornington Peninsula - Tourism Victoria- Government tourism site
{{Coord, -38.351, 145.064, dim:30000_region:AU, display=title
Australian wine
Wine regions of Victoria (Australia)
Geography of Victoria (Australia)