Mornington Peninsula wine producing region of Victoria Australia

Date: September 24, 2010

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The Mornington Peninsula wine region has two great geographic assets. It has a maritime climate due to being surrounded on three sides by water.

MP at Fed Square

Secondly, the proximity to Melbourne has allowed boutique wineries to thrive. The region includes many seaside towns, beaches and golf courses which have for a long time been the weekend retreat and summer playground of city folk needing a break from the rat race. There are picturesque rolling hills, spectacular coastal scenery, bay and ocean beaches, historic buildings and many fine country properties. All this adds up to a discerning and affluent clientele who support boutique cellar doors and winery restaurants.

The proximity to the city has also brought seachangers who have planted vineyards, and in some cases have graduated to become winemakers.

A short ferry ride from Sorrento across the entrance of Port Phillip Bay is the Bellarine Peninsula and the Geelong Wine Region. There are vineyards on nearby French Island in Westernport Bay but they are not in the region as defined by the Australian Wine and Brandy Corporation.

The Mornington Peninsula was developed for viticulture quite recently. Previously there were apple and cherry orchards, livestock and mixed farming.

There were intermittent attempts to grow wine in the region dating back to the Nineteenth Century, but continuous commercial viticulture dates back to the early 1970s. After a few frustrating years with Cabernet, which ripens poorly all but the most favoured sites in this region, Pinot noir and Chardonnay are now the most commonly used varieties.

The Mornington Peninsula Wine region is a good case study of why careful site selection and appropriate varies are needed in new wine regions. The diversification of varieties grown in this region owes much to the pioneering work by winemaker Kathleen Quealy in championing Pinot gris; and to Gary Crittenden who has long advanced the cause of Italian wine varieties, both on the Peninsula and in other Victorian regions.

There are now well over a hundred wineries on the Peninsula, and as you can see from the list below, the region has the greatest concentration of growers of Pinot gris in Australia.

The climate is not as cool as some may imagine. There is Durif successfully grown on the peninsula.

SOURCE:      http://www.vinodiversity.com/mornington-peninsula.html

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