2015 Mornington Peninsula, The Moorooduc McIntyre Chardonnay, Moorooduc Estate
About Producer
Founded in 1982 by Richard and Jill McIntyre and located in Moorooduc, 55km southeast of Melbourne, this estate is a family-run winery that produces some of the finest Mornington Peninsula wines. Pinot noir and chardonnay specialists, the McIntyres have taken Moorooduc Estate to new heights thanks to intensive and hands-on care in the vineyards combined with wild yeast fermentation and minimal intervention in the cellars, to allow their single-site wines to express the specificity of their terroir. Daughter Kate McIntyre MW has now joined the familty property. The name Moorooduc is thought to be an Aboriginal word, from the Boonwurrung people of the Kulin nation who lived in the Peninsula, meaning 'flat and swampy' or 'dark' area.
Varietals
Chardonnay
About Appellation
Surrounded on three sides by the sea and rippled with ridges and hills from volcanic activity during the Tertiary period between 20 and 40 million years ago, Mornington Peninsula is one of Victoria’s key wine regions, located to the South of the Melbourne metropolis. Vines were first planted on the Peninsula in 1886 but in the 1920s, many of the vineyards were abandoned or uprooted. The renaissance of the region’s wine industry began in 1972 under the aegis of a group of aspiring vignerons who recognised the potential of the unique maritime climate of the Mornington Peninsula for producing high quality cool climate varieties. Relatively high summer humidity combined with abundant sunshine hours and plentiful rainfall during winter and spring create perfect conditions for the region’s signature varieties pinot noir and chardonnay.
Tasting Notes
Inviting nose of white stone fruits, citrus peel, sandalwood, oyster shell, aged comté and brioche, intense mouthfeel with creamy texture, fine structure and excellent concentration, oodles of flavours of white peach, nectarine, apricot, yuzu, fresh cheese curd, roasted nuts and Tarte Tatin, faint hints of umami notes and well-judged acidity carrying through a long, saline finish. One of the finest chardonnay cuvées of Mornington Peninsula, this is a delightful wine brimming with effortless elegance, confident drive and quiet complexity. It’s deliciously substantial yet zesty and light in its feet, while cloaking its controlled power in racy freshness. More often than not, I find myself swooning over the irresistible charm of this single-block McIntyre Chardonnay, not least for its stunning redolence of some very fine Côte de Beaune premiers crus. (08/2024)