Our 2021 vintage by Max Allen

OUR 2021 VINTAGE is one for the ages

“It’s like the old days.” This is what you’ll hear when you talk to any Mornington Peninsula winegrower about the fabulous 2021 vintage – especially if that winegrower has been around long enough to remember the old days.

When the first wave of curious Peninsula vignerons started planting vines in the region in the 1970s and ‘80s, they were attracted by its unequivocally cool climate. The maritime influence that comes with being on a southerly tongue of land poking out into the ocean between two bays means that grapes take longer to ripen, and produce wine with fine, complex, delicate flavours.

Since then, though, climate change has brought the average ripening dates on the Peninsula forward by a month or more; the wines are still very high quality, but vintage – the time of year when the grapes are harvested – can be compressed and tricky, with chardonnay and pinot gris and pinot noir and syrah all clamouring to be processed in the winery at once.

This wasn’t the case during vintage 2021. “The region meandered through harvest at a gentle pace rather than the rush to pick as experienced in some recent years,” says Tyson Lewis, from the Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association. “The growers have reason to be very happy with what has found its way to tank and barrel.”

Tod Dexter has been making wine on the Peninsula since 1987. He was head winemaker at Stonier for many years, has been producing wine under his eponymous Dexter label using fruit from his own vineyard since 2006, and is also consultant winemaker for Pt Leo Estate. “We picked our pinot into the third week of March this year,” says Tod. “I’ve had to swirl back through the memory banks to find the last time we did that. It was a lovely, even season, with no heat spikes. And the wines look great.”

Kate McIntyre, whose parents established Moorooduc Estate 40 years ago, agrees. “They were perfect ripening conditions in 2021,” says Kate. “The right amount of rain. The right amount of sun. The wines have the right amount of flavour development, purity, complexity, and the structure to evolve beautifully. I’m very, very excited about them.”

Wine lovers should be excited too. After the unforgettable challenges of 2020, when many vineyards made good wines but low crops in the vineyard meant there wasn’t enough to satisfy demand – not to mention all the problems caused by the pandemic – the 2021 season, according to the Tyson Lewis vintage report for the MPVA, delivered a yield that was back to normal.

Some of the wines from this exciting vintage have started appearing already, of course. Cellar doors and restaurant fridges across the region are stuffed with pale, dry rosés and crisp pinot grigios and fragrant sauvignons from 2021, jostling to be enjoyed over summer. They’ll soon be joined by the region’s famous, fuller-flavoured white pinot gris and chardonnay, and red pinot noir and shiraz – not to mention the many unusual wine styles that can now be found on the Peninsula, such as amber-coloured skin-contact friulano and copper-coloured skin-contact pinot gris.

The vintage itself may have been reminiscent of the old days, but there’s nothing old-fashioned about the wines.

MAX ALLEN