PINOT PALOOZA: Edition #1

WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION OF

ISSUE 1 – 2018

WHERE DO YOU PINOT?

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ADELAIDE AU C K L A N D B RI SB A N E CHRISTCHURCH H O N G KO N G M E LB O U RN E PERTH SI N GA P O RE SY D N E Y T O K YO W E LLI N GT O N

WELCOME

WELCOME TO THE FIRST EDITION OF THE PINOT PALOOZA MAGAZINE

Welcome to the first-ever edition of the Pinot Palooza magazine!

If you’d asked me at our inaugural event back in 2012 whether we’d one day publish a magazine, I probably would have stared at you blankly or just laughed in your face. But fast forward to today and, well, here we are.

In 2018, we’re heading to 11 cities in five countries. This is an incredible testament to all of you who’ve joined us over the years, and the wineries and exhibitors who make this event possible. Because of Pinot Palooza, we’ve managed to form wonderful connections all over the world. This magazine is a celebration of those connections, as well as a token of our thanks.

It’s why the theme of this edition is ‘WHERE DO YOU PINOT?’ For us, pinot noir is more than just a wine. It’s part of our lives. It’s with us when we socialise, travel, eat. No matter where we are in the world, pinot is there too.

This magazine isn’t about points or star ratings or using big words that no one understands (Andrea Frost’s article summarises exactly why we love it!), it’s about helping you integrate pinot into your life, as well as giving you practical tools to further explore it if you wish.

In this issue, we speak to the People’s Choice winners from 2017 (an excellent reminder to vote for your

favourite this year!). We chat to a few incredible sommeliers who share their tips on those pinot artists to watch in 2018. We show you around Singapore, and take you on a whirlwind 48-hour tour of the Mornington Peninsula.

Drinks writer Mike Bennie talks about baller wines. We speak to SOUNDS AUSTRALIA’s Glenn Dickie about the links he sees between music and wine.

We chat to the incredible chef Analiese Gregory about her move from Sydney to the pristine state of Tasmania. And there’s a quick Q&A with Alice Oehr, who designed and illustrated this magazine’s awesome cover.

So, a fair bit in this first edition!

Our intent with this magazine is to further the conversation around pinot and the people behind it. So we’re dedicating this first edition to all of you who have joined us and supported us at our events over the years; especially the incredible wineries who come together collaboratively every year (the 260+ wineries are listed in the back of this mag). We couldn’t do what we do without them or you.

So, on behalf of Team REVEL, I’d like to say THANK YOU. Thank you for being here today and for taking the time to read this publication.

I’d also like to thank my team, both present and past, who do not flinch nor falter. They are legends and I am incredibly grateful.

Truly. Thank you.

Dan Sims

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WHO & WHAT

CONTRIBUTORS ———————————————————

DAN SIMS

Dan is the brains behind Pinot Palooza and REVEL Global, the company behind Gauchito Gil’s Malbec Day, MOULD – A Cheese Festival and many more). A sommelier in his former life, Dan has worked in some of Melbourne’s top restaurants, and was awarded the inaugural Sommelier of the Year award for The Age Good Food Guide 2008. @dan_sims

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JADE MAYHEW

Jade is REVEL’s Head of Partnerships and Business Operations. She’s been with REVEL since day one, joining us from the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival. @jtmayhew

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MIKE BENNIE

Mike is a freelance wine and drinks writer, journalist and presenter. He also slings booze at Sydney’s P&V Wine and Liquor Merchants, and was one of the co-founders of Sydney’s natural wine festival Rootstock. @mikebennie101

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ANNA WEBSTER

Anna is REVEL’s Head of Content and moonlights on the side as a freelance food and wine journalist for publications such as The Age Good Food and Broadsheet. @annas.appetite

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TONY CHARLTON

Tony is the Creative Director of Charlton Design. Tony has been instrumental to the REVEL branding over the years – including pulling this magazine together! @open_here_design

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ANDREA FROST

Andrea is an award-winning wine writer, columnist, author and talker. She’s a columnist for JancisRobinson.com and the World of Fine Wine and has contributed to TimAtkin.com, Gourmet Traveller Wine, Wine Companion magazine, Wine Enthusiast, Food & Wine magazine and ABC’s delicious. among others. @andreajfrost

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SAMANTHA PAYNE

Sam is a sommelier, wine writer and wine consultant, working in some of Sydney’s best restaurants and writing for its top publications.

She’s also the host of How to Drink Wine with Samantha on the Guardian. @sl_payne

CLARE BURDER

Clare is a wine educator, and is the mastermind behind the long-running Humble Tumbler wine courses. She’s also a winemaker and producer, both on her family’s vineyard in the King Valley, and under the Nimbostratus label she collaborates on with fellow winemaker Dom Valentine. @clareburder

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Bree is an Australian-born, American-based Master of Wine. She currently consults to wine industry on wine business development, brand building, and portfolio management, and also on winemaking, blending, marketing and vineyard development. @breebos

James is co-owner of Fitzroy wine bar Gertrude Street Enoteca, and also our resident photographer, shooting both REVEL events and anything else we need him to!

BREE BOSKOV

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JAMES BROADWAY

@vini_bici_foto

CONTENTS

CONTENTS —————————————————

6—­7 ANDREA FROST

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26—­27 THE SOUNDS OF AUSTRALIA

Seven reasons why we love pinot noir.

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Glenn Dickie on the parallels between wine and music.

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Presenting your Top 10 for 2017.

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The People’s Choice for 2017.

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8—­10 PEOPLE’S CHOICE

12—­14 HOW WE PINOT

Eleven cities, five countries.

Where do you start?

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28—29 NEIL PRENTICE 30 DARK HORSE

Discover Gippsland, Victoria’s vast and wonderful wine region.

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18—­19 BALLER WINES

32—­37 ROAD TRIP MORNINGTON PENINSULA

Mike Bennie talks forking out for expensive pinot.

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Your guide to road-tripping the Mornington Peninsula.

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Our guide on the best spots to eat and drink in the Lion City.

The Sydney chef on her southern switch.

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20—­25 WHERE WE EAT & DRINK SINGAPORE

38—­39 ANALIESE GREGORY

40—­41 ALICE OEHR

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44—45 WHERE PINOT LIVES AUSTRALIA

Dive deep into Australia’s wine regions.

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46 WHERE PINOT LIVES NEW ZEALAND

Get to know New Zealand’s wine regions.

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48 WHERE PINOT LIVES USA

There’s more to pinot than Portland.

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50 WHERE PINOT LIVES FRANCE

Ground zero for wine.

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52 HALL OF FAME

The wineries who’ve been with us since day one.

Our cover illustrator on making a career out of drawing.

WHO IS REVEL You know us. We’re the artists formerly known as Bottle Shop Concepts – the team behind epic wine and food events including Pinot Palooza, Game of Rhones, MOULD – A Cheese Festival and Gauchito Gil’s Malbec Day. We’re

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hell-bent on creating fun, unique event experiences – especially around wine. But as this magazine will attest to, that’s not all we do. Make sure you check us out, either via our website revel.global or Instagram @revel.global.

FOR THE LOVE OF PINOT Seven Reasons to Love Pinot Noir

BY

Andrea Frost PHOTOGRAPHY

James Broadway

PINOT NOIR REMINDS YOU OF WHAT’S IMPORTANT Not all things are created equal, a truth as applicable to wine grapes as it is to life. Some wine grapes are born into this world with little more potential than to be a fresh, reliable bistro wine that pairs with seafood and a harbour view; while other varieties’ merits are that they will create the most plush, approachable and reliable red wine, able to endure difficult weather and a range of climates. Worthy roles to fill, and purveyors of joy to many, but pinot noir is not that kind of grape. Pinot noir is a wine of such potential greatness, beauty and complexity that not only does it surpass most others, it reminds us what is possible. When pinot noir is good, the experience is transcendent. Not only is this a thing to behold from a sensory perspective, but in a world where commoditisation, scalability and other generic values are considered worthier pillars of greatness in wine than what is good and beautiful, then great pinot noir

will always be there to recalibrate your benchmarks and remind you that not only is greatness possible, it’s also important.

PINOT NOIR WILL TAKE YOU PLACES Follow your nose with pinot noir and you’ll be spun around the globe to some of the most marginal, beautiful, intrepid places on earth, without even leaving your glass.

France, America, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Austria, Chile, Italy, Romania, Moldova and beyond.

Pinot noir’s winegrowing footprint will take you from the high altitudes of Alto Adige to the low latitudes of Tasmania; it will immerse you in the cool continental regions of Burgundy; and road-trip you along coastal strips of Sonoma. And it won’t just introduce you to adventurous places, but often the most beautiful.

I will never forget driving around Burgundy during a crisp autumnal afternoon as the slopes of the Côte de Nuits blazed golden with autumnal

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foliage. Nor, at the newer end of pinot noir’s timeline, will I ever be anything less than astounded at the landscape of Central Otago, where serrated mountains jab the skyline, wild rivers tear through gorges and the earth rumbles under you. And the most exciting thing about pinot noir’s passport to the world? It’s not done yet. As intrepid winegrowers explore new places and exciting new regions show their suitability for this variety, following pinot noir around the world will the greatest source of sensory adventure.

PINOT NOIR CONNECTS YOU TO THE WONDERS OF NATURE To understand pinot noir is to enter into an exquisite and intimate exchange with nature – how the place was made and how it behaves.

One of pinot noir’s greatest virtues is that it expresses the place it is grown in, and not only in a general sense, but down to tiny minutiae of a vineyard such as slight changes in soil, slope, sunlight, swings in

ANDREA FROST

weather and other details beyond the human senses or current body of wine science. We vaguely know why a pinot noir made on one site can taste wildly different from one made in exactly the same way a few steps away. But there’s a lot we don’t know. And one tug on this idea and you’ll be pulling on stories of ancient geology and inland seas, gigantic earthquakes and glacial washes. Tiny and gigantic stories and mysteries from nature, all told through a glass of wine. It’s properly wonderful stuff.

PINOT NOIR PRESERVES CULTURE It’s not just the landscape pinot noir can harbour, nor a range of tastes and aromas, but important cultural values, too. It has been argued that the current culture of wine, of expressing greatness of place in wine, was started around the ninth century by the Benedictine monks in Burgundy, who began the process of differentiating vineyards according to quality, thereby starting the notion of terroir. This wine culture expanded from the Abbey of Saint Vivant to the more disciplined Cistercian order, who advanced the idea further. From the Côte de Nuits it spread to the Côte de Beaune until it created the mosaic of vineyards that eventually covered the whole of the Côte d’Or. From Burgundy, this idea — of expressing greatness of place through wine — has been passed along the great wine timeline ever since. From New World to Old, one continent to the next, enduring fashion and trends, poverty and war, and eventually making it all around the world into new cultures. And a thousand years after those Benedictine monks first ploughed the land, the resultant mosaic of Burgundian vineyards was given official UNESCO protection for being a cultural landscape that is valuable to “the creative genius and spiritual vitality of humanity”. Pinot noir captures important cultural values and shepherds them through time, protecting them from the flippancy of fashions and against the vicissitudes of history. In this sense, pinot noir preserves culture.

PINOT NOIR KEEPS YOU HUMBLE Perhaps one of the most important reasons to love pinot noir is that, in an age of shortcuts, immediate gratification and the idea that Mother Nature’s inconveniences can be overridden by technology, pinot noir is here to keep us all humble.

There are no shortcuts to anything good about pinot noir, nor any ways of defending against the trials of nature; it is fickle to grow and challenging to make, it is difficult to understand and hard to buy the good stuff. And it is almost impossible to believe that the greatest, most revered vineyards of the greatest domains in the world can be wiped out by frost or hail in a single night, and not for another season will they have another shot at it. In short, knowing, loving and drinking pinot noir is complex, but, just like life, it can also be spectacular.

PINOT NOIR ATTRACTS A CERTAIN TYPE Given all of the risk, the struggle, the pressure and the sheer elusiveness of pinot noir — who’d do it? Who’d pursue such a fickle, tempestuous, unreliable grape that may or may not perform when other more reliable wines are possible? Who’d allow their business to be directed

by Mother Nature rather than a marketing department? Who’d invest time and money for pleasure over profit? The type who I am sure writer Wilferd Peterson had in mind when he wrote: “Walk with the dreamers, the believers, the courageous, the cheerful, the planners, the doers, the successful people with their heads in the clouds and their feet on the ground.” Making pinot noir is a challenge and, rightly so, attracts those who are after one: take a turn around the world of pinot noir and you’ll find the best mix of people with a range of backgrounds — former rocket scientists, professional skiers, pilots, doctors, actors, sailors, writers and musicians. Who’d risk everything to make beautiful wine?

The good, albeit slightly wild, type.

That’s who.

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PINOT NOIR IS BEAUTIFUL And here we arrive at the nub of it.

No one would risk their life savings, explore marginal climates, endure erratic weather, protect centuries of culture or challenge viticultural boundaries if pinot noir was not one of the most beautiful varieties in the world. If the end result were something simpler, plainer, less spectacular, few would go to these extremes. The beauty of pinot noir is the reason we’re all here. Whether it be the aromatic charms — of strawberries and cherries, mushroom and earth, leather and game.

Or the textural ones — velvety tannins and shimmering acidity. Or to pinot noir’s more alluring charms — haunting, enigmatic, ethereal.

All this, when connected to culture, place, nature and community, is what makes pinot noir a worthy wine to love; because it is everything that is not just good about wine, but good about life. Which is perhaps the best reason of all.

——————————————————— Andrea Frost is an award-winning writer, columnist, author and speaker whose work has been described as “more like an evening with a particularly erudite and witty dinner companion than a class at the local wine school”. Andrea is a columnist for JancisRobinson.com and The World of Fine Wine, and has contributed widely to other publications.

She has gained international accolades for her unique approach to wine that has as much to do with culture and philosophy as it does to tastings and terroir. A distinctive voice and original thinker in the world of wine, Andrea has presented many popular talks to the wine industry and public alike, including the 2017 Pinot Noir NZ Celebration and the Melbourne Writers Festival.

Follow:

@andreajfrost @andreajfrost andreafrost.com

PEOPLE’S CHOICE

PEOPLE’S CHOICE! The votes are in!

With over 120 producers joining us across the Australian campaign, competition for the 2017 PEOPLE’S CHOICE was tougher (and more delicious) than ever.

At every Pinot Palooza event, we hold a competition where you can vote for your favourite winemaker.

It works like this: You arrive, collect your wine glass, and begin your epic tasting journey through all the wines on offer. Once you’ve tasted all of them (or as many as you can), you vote for your favourite.

Each city’s Top 3 are announced on the day. But at the end of the tour, we calculate (by percentage) each winery’s ranking overall and determine the Top 10 across the whole year.

Over 120 producers joined us during the 2017 tour, and almost all of them got a vote, which was great to see.

What was even better to see was that the different styles, regions, winery sizes and winemaker personalities represented in the Top 10 list pretty much summed up what Pinot Palooza is all about.

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01 MOONDARRA Gippsland Victoria, Australia Neil Prentice’s family bought a farm at Moondarra in the Gippsland Mountain Rivers District in Victoria, Australia, in 1991, with a plan to grow beef cattle.

But Neil wanted to grow pinot noir and thankfully he did else we wouldn’t be blessed today with his powerful pinots.

But Neil is so much more than his wine. He’s always the first one on the dancefloor.

PEOPLE’S CHOICE

02 VINTELOPER

Adelaide Hills South Australia, Australia Vinteloper’s winemaker is a very tall man by the name of David Bowley. His wine is so good that he came second in the 2017 People’s Choice, first in 2016, and second again in 2015. That’s three times running he’s been voted among the best pinot makers in Australia!

03 MT DIFFICULTY Central Otago New Zealand

Mt Difficulty is based across the ditch in Central Otago, New Zealand, but that didn’t stop them coming to every Pinot Palooza event in 2017 (even Singapore). They also make some seriously delicious pinot. Try some – you’ll see.

04 HENSCHKE

Adelaide Hills South Australia, Australia If there’s one name synonymous with South Australian wine, it’s Henschke.

The Henschke family have been making wine there for 148 years, and have vineyards in Eden Valley in the Barossa and the Adelaide Hills. While best known for their Shiraz, Henschke make pretty awesome pinot, too.

Clearly!

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PEOPLE’S CHOICE

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06

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YABBY LAKE

CHATTO WINES

CURLY FLAT

Yabby Lake on the Mornington Peninsula has it all. A killer cellar door and restaurant, incredible wines, and Chief Winemaker Tom Carson, who, in 2013, became the first pinot producer to win the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy – the most prestigious wine award in Australia.

Daisy and Jim Chatto love pinot so much that it’s all they grow down at their tiny Huon Valley vineyard.

This, plus their tagline “making serious pinot fun”, is one of the reasons we fell in love with them when they first joined us six years ago.

Team Curly Flat are essentially Pinot Palooza royalty - they’ve been at every Pinot Palooza in every city, EVER. Yep, total legends they are, and aside from making some of our favourite pinot noir, they’re the nicest bunch of wine folk you could hope to meet.

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JOURNEY WINES

CHARTERIS

GOLDEN CHILD

Winemaker Damian North joined us at the first ever Pinot Palooza with his first ever vintage, and he’s been back every year since. We’ve loved seeing his wines mature over the years, and we were really happy to see him make the top 10 in 2017.

PJ Charteris and wife Chrissi are our favourite Pinot Palooza power couple.

Not only do they make absolutely banging wines over in Central Otago, but they’re vibrant, fun and just great to hang out with (that’s the wines and the winemakers).

Number 10 in 2017 was James Hamilton from Golden Child, a winery in the Kuitpo sub-region of the Adelaide Hills. It was James’ (and team Golden Child) first ever Pinot Palooza and maybe it was just beginner’s luck, but he absolutely killed it.

Mornington Peninsula Victoria, Australia

Yarra Valley Victoria, Australia

Huon Valley Tasmania, Australia

Central Otago New Zealand

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Macedon Ranges Victoria, Australia

Adelaide Hills South Australia, Australia

YARRA VALLEY CHARDONNAY & PINOT NOIR

©Christopher David Thompson

HEATHCOTE FIANO & SHIRAZ

THE CELLAR DOOR AND WINERY RESTAURANT Visit us for a tasting experience and lunch at 73 Felton Road, Bannockburn, Central Otago and continue the journey with us on our new website www.mtdifficulty.nz #mtdifficulty

@mtdifficulty and on

mtdifficulty

“It is good to have an end to journey toward; but it is the journey that matters, in the end.”

Ernest Hemingway

www.journeywines.com.au TWR001160

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THIS IS HOW WE PINOT Eleven cities, 150+ wines, 30+ wine regions.

Need some advice?

HOW WE PINOT

Over Pinot Palooza’s 11 city tour, there will be the opportunity to taste hundreds of different pinots from around 150 producers representing around 30 regions.

The sheer volume alone can be intimidating, let alone trying to pick a favourite.

The best way is to approach it as you would a music festival.

Think of the different styles or

producers as stages, each one representing a certain genre of music or musician.

fringe and emerging stages for something new or a little different. Up for a splurge? Hit the VIP stage. Up for something fun? The Dance Tent’s where it’s at. And when you feel like taking it a little easy, the Chill Out Room’s waiting for you.

Each has its own unique character and what you like or don’t like is all down to how you feel and what you’re seeking at that particular moment in time.

This is how you pinot, with your hands in the air like you just don’t care!

Spend time at the main stage, but make sure you head to the

MAIN STAGE: This is the headline act which you absolutely have to check out. If you haven’t heard of them, you soon will.

This one’s a must.

VIP: This is one you’ll cough up good dollars for.

FRINGE: A little left field, alternative, unique, intriguing and captivating.

Not mainstream and all the better for it.

EMERGING TALENT: This is your new, up-and-coming pinot artist, or one who’s undergone reinvention.

CHILL OUT ROOM: Super chilled, easy going, relaxed and super lo-fi.

DANCE TENT: Wines that are bright, fun and make you want to move.

NEED SOME ADVICE? We asked some of the best sommeliers on the planet to tell us how they pinot.

SAMANTHA PAYNE, Wine Consultant, Communicator and Sommelier (Sydney, Australia) “I pinot everywhere. It’s the red wine I naturally gravitate to on wine lists and bottle shop shelves because of its diversity and the inherent ‘sense of place’ it articulates.

My favourite place to pinot is at home with friends, with a really killer pasta and great tunes in the background, candlelight casting a warm glow over everything.”

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MAIN STAGE: Shaw and Smith (Adelaide Hills, SA)

VIP: Prophet’s Rock ‘Home Vineyard’ (Central Otago, NZ) FRINGE: Becker Wines Pinot Meunier Pet Nat (Tumbarumba, NSW) EMERGING TALENT: Golden Child ‘Lazy Sunday’ (Adelaide Hills, SA) CHILL OUT ROOM: ​Stoney Rise (Tasmania) DANCE TENT: Giant Steps ‘Applejack Vineyard’ (Yarra Valley, SA)

HOW WE PINOT

LIAM O’BRIEN, Head Sommelier, Cutler & Co (Melbourne, Australia) “​I drink it because it’s the wine I think about all the time. I make it because I want to try to tame the beast. I talk about it because I want to​know how much I don’t know. ​I sell it because I get to taste a little pinot every day​. ​In short, I work in wine so I can pinot.”

MAIN STAGE: Ocean Eight (Mornington Peninsula, VIC)

VIP: ​Rippon ‘Mature Vines’ (Central Otago, NZ)’

FRINGE: ​Terindah Estate ‘Two Bays’ (Bellarine, VIC)

EMERGING TALENT: Clyde Park (Bellarine, VIC)

CHILL OUT ROOM: Stoney Rise (Tasmania)

DANCE TENT: ​Shadowfax (Bellarine, VIC)

MEGAN ABBOTT-WALKER, Sommelier (Auckland, New Zealand) “Producers of pinot noir worldwide are, without exception, passionate people and I’ve found it’s impossible to not get on board and want to taste and experience as much as possible.

Acknowledging that there are many different expressions of flavour, structure and style that can result from this grape, I look to pinot when I want a wine that is ethereal, floral, with touches of sweet fruit balanced by earthiness, minerals, spice and all the dirty, savoury funk you could ask for. I can’t say no to a little dirty funk.”

LVIN GOH and IAIN LIM, WINE RVLT (Singapore) Wine RVLT is one of the first and only natural wine bars in Singapore. We spent more time there than we care to admit last visit, and even held our Pinot Palooza afterparty there. Owners and somms Alvin Goh and Iain Lim are men of few words but we got them to tell us that…

“We pinot because it’s good for our health!”

PENNY GRANT, Head Sommelier, Black Bird (Brisbane, Australia) “The way I pinot depends on the weather, what’s on my plate and just how much I actually want to share. Like with Champagne, pinot noir is subject to an occasion. Quick barbecue, bring a cheaper easy and approachable drop. Night out, good food, good company, go for it and drop a dollar or two on some Burg!!”

PAOLA MARAZZINA, Group Sommelier, Transit Group (Tokyo, Japan) “There are so many ways I pinot, depending on the people I am drinking with, the occasion or my mood. As a catch-all food pairing wine, I often rely on a nice pinot when I am invited to a dinner without knowing what we’re eating, or I choose an old vintage when it’s an important date or celebration. When I need to cheer up on a rainy afternoon I would choose a juicy, funky Australian pinot!”

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MAIN STAGE: ​Valli (Central Otago, NZ) VIP: ​Rippon (Central Otago, NZ) FRINGE: ​Black Estate (North

Canterbury, NZ)

EMERGING TALENT: Carrick (Central Otago, NZ)

CHILL OUT ROOM: Neudorf ‘Tom’s

Block’ (Nelson NZ) DANCE TENT: ​Quartz Reef Methode Traditionelle Brut NV (Central Otago, NZ)

MAIN STAGE: Bill Downie (Gippsland, VIC) VIP: Felton Road (Central Otago, NZ) FRINGE: Patrick Sullivan (Gippsland, VIC) CHILL OUT ROOM: Fromm (Marlborough, NZ)

DANCE TENT: Jack Rabbit (Bellarine, VIC)

MAIN STAGE: Rippon (Central Otago, NZ) VIP: Craggy Range Aroha (Martinborough, NZ) FRINGE: Vinteloper (Adelaide Hills, SA) EMERGING TALENT: Alan McCorkindale (North Canterbury, NZ) CHILL OUT ROOM: Stoney Rise (Tasmania) DANCE TENT: Valli ‘Waitaki Vineyard’ (Central Otago, NZ)

MAIN STAGE: Don Wines (Martinborough, NZ)

VIP: Tolpuddle (Tasmania, Australia)

FRINGE: Vinteloper (Adelaide Hills, SA)

EMERGING TALENT: Quealy (Mornington Peninsula, VIC)

CHILL OUT ROOM: Ochota Barrels (Adelaide Hills, SA)

DANCE TENT: Mac Forbes (Yarra

Valley, VIC)

BALLER

Mike Bennie on forking out for Aussie Pinot.

WORDS

Mike Bennie PHOTOGRAPHY

Supplied

MIKE BENNIE

In slang, a ‘baller’ refers to anyone living large. It implies a profligate approach to wealth, lavish ownership of property, cars, private jets and other rich-living chattels. A baller is someone at the top of the money tree, where price is no issue, indeed, it’s often that higher priced luxury good-purchasing is a means to elevated status. Ipso, when applied to the booze world you get flashes of super premium spirits, grand marque Champagne, and wines that are typically out of reach of the general population. Extravagance is the baseline.

Baller wines are a thing. It’s the equivalent of top shelf. It’s the rare and hard to find wines. It’s the wines that are soaring into triple figures, and in some cases, four. Pinot noir is definitively in the mix. Burgundy has done a good job equating pinot wines from the region with a decadence-expense matrix that seems to rise yearly. We’re mainlining a similar hit in Australia, with a

+ Bass Phillip Reserve Pinot Noir/ Premium Pinot Noir ($590/$220) – The Reserve pinot noir is Australia’s most expensive, and stood at $350 since the late noughties, then leapt to $550 in 2013 and upped its price once more in 2015 to the lofty $590 it stands at currently. Bass Phillip is a small, biodynamic, highly-praised producer of hauntingly beautiful, idiosyncratic Gippsland, Victoria wines. The wines are often soft in the palate, spreading gently, lean in fruit character and strong in herb, spice, savouriness and that sense of ‘minerality’. + Glaetzer-Dixon Judith Pinot Noir ($220) – The first release of this aspiring wine leapt out of the blocks at $220 in 2013.

It’s Tasmanian, it has the pedigree of the Glaetzer name (the famed, extended family is based in Barossa Valley, South Australia, producing powerful, regional wines), the winemaker has won the revered Jimmy Watson Trophy, the fruit is high quality, fancy oak is lavishly applied. Ticks many boxes. + Yering Station Scarlett Pinot Noir/ Reserve Pinot Noir ($250/120) – The 2015 harvest conspired with outstanding growing conditions, and hence we saw the first release of the $250 Scarlett designated pinot noir from this established, premium producer. The Reserve wine is no slouch at $120 a bottle too. These are full flavoured yet medium bodied styles - highly polished, elegant and refined wines.

collection of pinot noir wines that now assert commanding prices, pushing past a hundred dollars, and in some cases, hundreds.

No doubt pinot noir grapes are some of the most expensive to buy in Australia, with costs per tonne at the upper level of any across the country. The fickle variety is tricky to grow, by and large, requiring more output and costs to ensure health and wellbeing of vines and vineyards. Deft winemaking, brand recognition, fancy winemakers – all play a part in pricing. Then there’s the gear, with high-tech equipment to ensure grapes are treated righteously and best-of oak barrels layering in additional cost.

all the finest winemaking was applied.

So what goes into wine to make it hit the high notes of pricing?

The directive is that winery, winemaker, reputation, marketing and derring-do all play a part. Established producers get cred for legacy, and for output that has dazzled the buying market for years. Scarcity plays a role too, be it old, small vineyards or single barrel selections. The less of something, the more people want to have it, or something like that. Throw the phrase ‘cult wine’ around and you can turbo-charge the price.

So who’s in the mix? What are Australia’s baller pinots?

That being said, the actual cost per bottle versus realised price is another thing all together. Effectively, no wine costs $100 to make. You’d be hard pressed working up $50 into a base cost to manufacture wine, even if the cost per tonne was upper echelon and

The coterie of producers looking to tap into elite spending come from a mix of trusted, established, prestige producers, and a clique of ambitious upstarts.

+ Mount Mary Pinot Noir ($130) – Mount Mary has the reputation, longevity, lineage and next level wines to pull off just about any price for a wine. Recent releases of pinot noir have near eclipsed their famed cabernets blend, with impossibly satiny texture, fine pucker of tannins, beautiful perfume and incredible restraint that bodes well for cellaring.

concentrated fruit flavours, palate saturating in a way, fleshy, yet still holds a sense of freshness despite the generosity apparent.

The bold, muscular style is done well here.

+ Bindi Block 5 Pinot Noir ($110) – Arguably Australia’s finest pinot noir, the wine is hand-crafted from a single parcel of fruit from an extraordinary site in Macedon Ranges. The Block 5 saturates the palate with flavour but remains fine boned, with velvety texture, a sense of purity and exceptional length as calling cards. The wines retain their vitality even when some considerable age. + Stefano Lubiana Sasso Pinot Noir ($130) – Tasmania’s premier biodynamic vineyards, a family operation, outstanding cool climate location, a gentle hand in the winery – a formidable check list. The wine itself is quietly powerful, deeply concentrated yet retains a fine suede texture through its exceptional length. There’s a sense of immense, immediate pleasure here. + Coldstream Hills Amphitheatre Pinot Noir ($150) – A relatively new release and a relatively new wine for the baller list, this singular pinot noir is quite assertive in its forward,

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Here’s the gist.

+ Domaine Simha Raja Pinot Noir/Rana Pinot Noir ($275/$175) – Esoteric wines from a quirky Tasmanian wine producer, these are very rarely seen wines, on the cusp of loose-knit in texture, sprinkled with herbal notes and a sense of sour-pickled cherries. They have great volume of perfume, a sense of expressiveness and present uniquely. + Yarra Yering Carrodus Pinot Noir ($250) – Yarra Yering’s flagship pinot noir leads the Yarra Valley’s top end pinot noir pricing, and delivers a firm,restrained, chunky pinot noir of strong, cherry-berry fruit flavour, judicious but noted cedary-sweet spice oak charactes and ribs of fine, silty tannins. It feels like one for the cellar, but the athletic style might just be appealing to some as a young wine, for those seeking impact from their pinot noir drinking.

——————————————————— @mikebennie101

WHERE WE EAT SINGAPORE

WHERE WE EAT Singapore WORDS

Anna Webster

Dining out is our favourite thing to do at home, and abroad it’s no different.

Founder Dan Sims travelled to Singapore a grand total of seven times in 2017, and the rest of the team went over at various stages too, so between us we’ve put together a list of our favourite places to eat in the Lion City.

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MEATSMITH

For so long, eating out in Singapore meant either hawker or OTT fine diner. But thanks to restaurants like Meatsmith, there’s a new breed of mid-range casual diner, offering excellent food at reasonable prices.

Meatsmith does what its name suggests: smokes and carves meat.

There’s a distinctly American edge to the food thanks to US chef Andrew Baldus (think Memphis-rub pork cheeks with pickles, smoked sausage and jalapeno poppers) and an industrial vibe to the fitout. A word of warning: Don’t order the Meat Plate for main unless you are SERIOUSLY hungry.

167-169 Telok Ayer Street, Singapore 068620 2

BURNT ENDS

The upmarket brother restaurant to Meatsmith, Burnt Ends is barbecue on steroids. It bills itself as a casual diner, but it’s hard to agree when a snack of ‘Steak Frites’ (a mouthful of potato topped with minced raw beef and caviar) costs $35 per piece. Still, if you want to live large, this is the place to do it. The counter is loud, fast and fun, and food is flung at you from all angles.

All the snacks, such as the aforementioned Steak Frites, corn with lardo, grissini with taramasalata, are great.

For mains, make sure you get the bone marrow bun – it’s like garlic bread but with salty bone marrow instead of garlic butter. It is outstanding.

mushrooms in an onion broth delivers an intense whack of umami; warm cheese bread is turned up a notch when dipped in a puddle of aged Comte; roasted pumpkin, kale and cashew is so meaty we don’t believe the chef when he says it’s vegan. The mostly organic and biodynamic wines available are on the more expensive side, but, again, a lunch booking will save you here.

21 Boon Tat St, Singapore 069620 4 GEYLANG EAST MARKET AND FOOD CORNER

Singapore is famous for its hawker centres. In a city where spending $16 on a beer isn’t abnormal, hawkers easily represent the best value when it comes to food. We chose Geylang East Market and Food Corner on the recommendation of our friend and local tour guide, Chew, whose parents have a stall there. Called ‘Original’, it specialises in claypot dishes such as seafood laksa, chicken curry and prawn head soup. Chew’s dad also went and picked up a range of dishes from a variety of other stalls for us to try, so on top of the laksa, curry and soup we had at Original, we ate:

20 Teck Lim Road, Singapore 088391 3

CHEEK BY JOWL

This represents one of the best value mid-to-high-end dining experiences in Singapore (probably Australia, too); especially if you go for lunch, where five courses will only set you back $58. Price aside, the food is simple but inspired. A dish of sunchoke and PINOT PALOOZA ISSUE 1, 2018

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WHERE WE EAT SINGAPORE

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Chee Cheong Fun: Steamed rice noodle rolls in a dark sweet sauce and spring onions. Fried Carrot Cake Sticks: These aren’t actually made from carrots, rather grated white radish or daikon mixed with rice and tapioca flours. The mix is steamed, then cut into sticks and deep-fried to crispy.

Jiu Cai Bao: Chive pancakes drizzled in sweet soya sauce Abacus Seeds: Glutinous balls made from tapioca flour and sweet potato or yam, seasoned with soya, fish, oyster and sesame sauces. Jian Dui: Fried pastry made from glutinous rice flour, rolled in sesame seeds and filled with red bean paste, sweet mung bean paste, or peanut paste.

117 Aljunied Ave 2, Singapore 380117 5

MAXWELL’S FOOD CENTRE

One of the better known hawker centres is Maxwell’s in Chinatown. It specialises in Hainanese chicken rice, and there’s lengthy queues for one in particular: Tian Tian. It’s a favourite of locals and visitors alike as well as known chefs like the late Anthony Bourdain and Gordon Ramsay. There are a few ways to serve this dish, but at Tian Tian whole chickens are poached in broth, then sliced and served on rice with sticks of cucumber and a chilli sambal. It’s insanely delicious and will only set you back around $4. If the queues at Tian Tian are too long, either come back later in the afternoon, or try one of the other Hainanese chicken rice stalls inside Maxwell. They’re all pretty good.

1 Kadayanallur Street, Singapore 069184 6

SUPER LOCO

(CUSTOMS HOUSE) Remember Jason Jones? He was one of the founding partners of Melbourne’s wildly successful

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Mamasita. He’s gone and done it again in Singapore with Super Loco.

There’s a couple of locations around town (and out of town, too) but Super Loco at Customs House is the one you want. It’s right on the marina, so aside from views of MBS you may be lucky enough to catch a welcome breeze.

The food is Mexican, in varying shades of authenticity, but always top quality and delicious. Definitely order a Margarita – it’s the perfect pairing for the marina.

70 Collyer Quay, #01-04, Singapore 049323 7

BLACKWATTLE

Opened by Clayton Wells of Sydney’s Automata, and headed up

by Automata’s former sous chef Joeri Timmermans, Blackwattle is a 50-seat restaurant and bar split over two levels. Like at Automata, the cuisine is modern Australian with Asian influences, leaning slightly more towards Singaporean (obviously). The Prix Fixe menu is relatively good value

by Singaporean standards, but if you don’t want to blow your budget there’s plenty of joy to be found in the snack menu. Tapioca crackers with fried cheese and espelette pepper go great PINOT PALOOZA ISSUE 1, 2018

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with a red rice ale, but the best pairing is Reypenaer Gouda and fermented pear relish served with cold sake.

97 Amoy St, Singapore 069917 8

TONG AH EATING HOUSE

Kaya toast with soft boiled eggs is the traditional Singaporean breakfast, and at most local eating houses, it’s all they serve in the morning. The original version sees thick-cut white bread lightly grilled before being slathered with kaya (coconut) jam and butter. Very softly boiled eggs are served alongside – crack them into a bowl, stir through light and dark soya sauces and white pepper, dip your toast in and enjoy.

Singaporean kopi (thick coffee with condensed milk) is the accompaniment of choice, although it borders on being too sweet for us. If you can’t get to Tong Ah, there are plenty of others options around the city.

35 Keong Saik Rd, Singapore 089142 9

JADE PALACE

A proper old-school Singaporean seafood restaurant. This is lazy Susan territory, where tanks full of fish and geoducks line the entrance, and fist-sized crabs sit tied up on ice.

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PIZZERIA MOZZA

American celebrity chef Mario Batali has higher-end Osteria Mozza inside Marina Bay Sands, and next door the more affordable Pizzeria Mozza. But, warning. More affordable doesn’t mean cheap. For a plate of Prosciutto di Parma, a small white bean bruschetta, and two Peronis, the bill was close to $100. If you have money to burn and really want wood-fired pizza, this is your place.

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2 Bayfront Ave, Suite B1-42-46, Singapore 248780

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On Sundays there’s a special dim-sum menu which you should take full advantage of, but make sure you still order the fried frog’s legs from the main menu. Definitely go prepared to drink: the list of Grand Cru Champagne and Burgundies is not just impressive, it’s impressively priced, and not just by Singaporean standards.

11 KIM JOO GUAN Bakwa (also known as rougan) is a type of dried barbecue pork. Salty and sweet and akin to jerky, the meat is sliced thin before being marinated, dried and grilled over charcoal. It’s traditionally eaten at Chinese New Year, although it is so popular it’s sold all year round.

583 Orchard Road, #B1-13 Forum The Shopping Mall, Singapore 238884

257 South Bridge Rd, Singapore 058806

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WHERE WE DRINK SINGAPORE

WHERE WE DRINK Singapore WORDS

Anna Webster

There’s no shortage of places to wet your whistle in Singapore.

From rooftops to speakeasies, pubs to beach clubs, you’ll find a bar to fit the bill.

Through a mix of recommendations and our own extensive on-the-ground research, we put together this (by no means definitive) list of our favourite places to drink in Singapore.

well-executed: Think rigatoni cooked al dente and tossed with crunchy chanterelles and shaved idiazabal cheese; toasted potato bread topped with confit tomatoes and thin slices of cured wagyu; or salt and vinegar tempura spring onions.

38 Carpenter Street (Level 1), Singapore 059917

EMPLOYEES ONLY

SMOKE & MIRRORS COCKTAIL BAR There are few better views in Singapore than the one you’re afforded from Smoke & Mirrors, a cocktail bar on the roof of the National Gallery. Sip your drink as you look over the unmistakable silhouette of the Marina Bay Sands resort complex and the durian- shaped domed rooftops of the Esplanade Theatre. #06-01 National Gallery Singapore 1 St. Andrew’s Road Singapore 178957

WINE RVLT When Alvin Gho, Ian Lim and Manel Valero opened WINE RVLT, it was to do as its name suggests: start a wine revolution. The wine scene in Singapore has always been conservative, and there were few – if any – places that sold the wines Gho and Lim wanted to drink: natural, organic/ biodynamic and minimal intervention. There’s no list as such at WINE RVLT – bottles are displayed on the wall instead, and one red, one white and one sparkling are opened each day to sell by the glass. As for food, Valero’s menu is simple but insanely PINOT PALOOZA ISSUE 1, 2018

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An offshoot of the New York original, Employees Only transports you back to the Prohibition days in the US. There is an American food menu, if you feel like heading for a table towards the back for oysters, steak tartare or a porterhouse pork chop, but the real star here is the cocktails. Its signature is the Ready, Fire, Aim – Mezcal mixed with lime juice, house-made honey-pineapple syrup and a few dashes of Bittermens Hellfire bitters.

112 Amoy St, Singapore 069932

THE TIPPLING CLUB Before you decide on a drink at the Tippling Club, you must first eat the gummy bears. Each one has been made to represent the core flavours in each of their cocktails, so you can literally try before you buy. It’s probably the most fun you can have in a cocktail bar, but pace yourself – the gummy bears are so difficult to make you only get one bag’s worth.

38 Tanjong Pagar Rd, Singapore 088461

JADE PALACE Jade Palace isn’t a bar, it’s a restaurant, and a very good one at that.

But the reason it’s also making our drinks wrap-up is it has one of the most ridiculous wine lists we’ve ever seen. Grand Cru champagnes and burgundies at prices Australian restaurants could only dream of

WHERE WE DRINK SINGAPORE

selling them for – a particularly welcome surprise in a city ordinarily so expensive. 2005 Cathiard, 2012 Dujac and 2006 Nicolas Potel… it’s almost the best drinking we’ve done in the city.

583 Orchard Road, #B1-13 Forum The Shopping Mall, Singapore 238884

THE LONG BAR AT RAFFLES HOTEL An obvious, albeit clichéd, pit stop.

Colonial yet classy, Raffles Hotel is where the Singapore Sling was invented, and if you can look beyond the exorbitant costs ($35 per Sling), you’ll agree a trip to the Long Bar is one you shouldn’t miss. The peanut shells scattered on the floor take some getting used to, but once you’ve thrown a few handfuls yourself you’ll find you feel differently.

1 Beach Rd, Singapore 189673

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THE SOUNDS OF AUSTRALIA As Australian wine gains global recognition for more than just Shiraz, so does its music.

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Anna Webster PHOTOGRAPHY

James Broadway PINOT PALOOZA ISSUE 1, 2018

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SOUNDS AUSTRALIA

We spoke to Glenn Dickie, SOUNDS AUSTRALIA’s Export Music Producer and the co-founder of international Australian music showcase THE AUSSIE BBQ, about the parallels he sees between wine and music.

Music and wine are very integrated, says SOUNDS AUSTRALIA’s Glenn Dickie.

“They’re both things that are genrebased. I’m a pinot guy, or a metal guy.

I’m into shiraz, I’m into classical. You can talk about them in the same way.”

It goes deeper than sharing analogies.

Like wine, music is subjective. While there will be certain styles considered by critics to be better than others, ultimately it comes down to what you like the sound or taste of. Mood and context play enormous roles in what you choose to drink or listen to and how much you enjoy it, and where you are, who you’re with and how you feel will always alter your enjoyment of both.

The role of SOUNDS AUSTRALIA is to fast-track the careers of Australian musicians overseas by providing connections and a platform for them to be seen so they’re picked up by the right people in a shorter amount of time. Close to 800 Australian artists have showcased with SOUNDS AUSTRALIA since its inception in 2009.

“We’re not building careers, necessarily,” says Dickie. “We believe that a lot of the artists we work with are good enough that they would’ve had success anyway, it just might’ve taken a bit longer.”

would’ve had an Australian artist.

Now, there’d only be one or two labels that don’t have at least one Australian artist signed.”

It’s a similar story with wine. Like Midnight Oil, INXS and AC/DC, heavy, warm-climate shirazes or cabernets were once our greatest exports. But now, we’re packing up crisp Tasmanian pinots and funky, skin-contact chardonnays to send internationally with our Vances and Courtneys.

There’s also the idea that genre is disappearing, or at least changing.

More and more restaurants, bars and retailers are listing their wines not by varietal but by style or even occasion.

And it’s the same with music. “Rather than rock or funk, you’ll have ‘songs for the bath’, or ‘music to wrap presents to’. You’ll create a playlist to drink wine to’,” says Dickie. “It’s becoming all about lifestyle.”

“RATHER THAN ROCK OR FUNK, YOU’LL HAVE ‘SONGS FOR THE BATH’ OR ‘MUSIC TO WRAP PRESENTS TO’.

YOU’LL CREATE A PLAYLIST TO DRINK WINE TO. IT’S BECOMING ALL ABOUT LIFESTYLE.” Dickie wasn’t born drinking wine but he was born making and listening to music, hitting pots and pans as soon as he had the strength to. After a youth spent playing in bands and working in record stores, he landed a job at EMI Music Australia. In 2003, about three years into his EMI career, he helped co-found the inaugural THE AUSSIE BBQ, the first consolidated Australian music showcase, at SXSW in Austin, Texas. In 2013, he left EMI for music export office SOUNDS AUSTRALIA (taking THE AUSSIE BBQ with him) where he remains today.

If Pinot was a music artist, who would it be?

–– King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard.

King Gizz, like Pinot, are really prolific, consistent and progressive.

They are constantly releasing new music and although they follow a similar flavour palate they are also pushing the boundaries in what they do. Like a lot of great Australian Pinot they are blowing people away all over the world and becoming more and more popular every day. They’re still pretty underground too.

As a result, “there’s a real shift internationally in the perception of Aussie wine,” says Dickie. “Like with bands and artists, people are realising that the spectrum of Australian wines is as good and as broad, if not broader, as some of the regions overseas.”

The AUSSIE BBQ is one such platform.

The team selects up-and-coming Australian artists to perform at this showcase in front of booking agents, talent managers, and other industry types local to that city. “Vance Joy’s first show internationally was with us at SXSW, and Courtney Barnett’s was with us at CMJ in New York,” says Dickie. “We condense a year’s worth of potential meetings for these artists into one event or day.”

Dickie believes there’s never been a better time for Australian music internationally. “Ten years ago, just one or two international labels

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For Dickie, the next step is to move beyond analogies and integrate wine and music more tangibly. It has started – wineries are now on the tourism agenda when international and overseas artists visit Australia.

“They’re topping and tailing their Australian experience with wine tours, which is pretty incredible, and a big change from just hugging koalas,” he says.

But he’d love to see Australian wine on the line-up at overseas festivals and events. “It would be great to be all over the world highlighting what we have in Australia from a holistic point of view. The music, the wine, the food, everything,” Dickie says.

——————————————————— @glennyg @soundsaustralia

NEIL PRENTICE The People’s Choice 2017.

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Anna Webster PHOTOGRAPHY

Kit Young

NEIL PRENTICE

Neil Prentice from Moondarra in Gippsland (VIC) won the National People’s Choice competition at Pinot Palooza 2017. That means that at all the events in Australia, Neil’s pinot was consistently voted the best. But Neil’s pinot story doesn’t start at Palooza. It starts much, much earlier.

A simple question about biodynamics and viticulture triggers a conversation about burgundy.

“Back when I was a baby wine waiter in the ‘80s,” says Neil Prentice, “I couldn’t work out why customers would pay $200 for a bottle of burgundy when a $20 bottle got you just as pissed.

But, I was making $1000 a week in tips at the time, so I thought, let’s find out.”

Drinking his way through some of the world’s greatest wines (Domaine Leflaive, Romanée-Conti, etc.) caused Prentice to fall in love with burgundy, and as those wines mostly tended to be made from grapes grown in biodynamic vineyards, he fell in love with the practice, too. Funnily enough, it ended up being closer to home than he originally thought.

“A little bell rang in my head. I thought ‘Cow shit in a cow horn from a lactating cow buried under a cypress tree!’ I remember my uncle beating the shit out of me when I was about seven for digging up all these cow horns on his property.

“I asked him, ‘What the fuck were you doing into biodynamics in the late 60s?’

And he had no idea what biodynamics was.” He just did what was needed to get the best out of his farm.

Prentice’s property at Moondarra in the foothills of Mt Baw Baw, Gippsland, is set on 138 acres; most of which are dedicated to wagyu cattle, and 10 acres of which are for growing grapes. It’s mostly pinot noir, but there’s a decent amount of nebbiolo and some small plantings of picolit, chardonnay, pinot bianco, pinot grigio and friulano.

Like his uncle, he farms biodynamically, although he hates the word (“It’s become a marketing term more than anything,” he says).

Instead, he’d rather talk about the fact that his vines have never been irrigated nor fertilised, and are sprayed with skim milk powder and “other weird things” rather than pesticides.

He tracks the overall health of his vines by monitoring one in particular (he named it Kevin), and a gas gun explodes intermittently over the vineyard, scaring away birds with nothing more than sound.

“DRINKING GRAVNER, AND RADIKON IN 2002 RIGHT WHEN I WAS GROWING RESTLESS AS A WINE CONSUMER WAS MY PERSONAL JUNE 4, 1976, MANCHESTER LESSER FREE TRADE HALL MOMENT.”

Even if you’ve somehow missed the Moondarra stand at a Pinot Palooza event, it’s unlikely you’ve missed Prentice. When he’s at his stand he’s in front of it, loud shirt on, hat askew, dispensing extra-large pours of his Studebaker, Conception and Samba Side pinots from bottles he’s propped up on mounds of Moondarra dirt.

If he’s away from his stand (likely – especially later in the day), you’ll either find him roaming, tasting other producers’ wines or distributing more of his own, or in front of the DJ, shoes off, dancing to Blue Monday

by New Order.

A better descriptor is to say that Prentice makes wines with funkosity. “Drinking Gravner and Radikon in 2002 right when I was growing restless as a wine consumer was my personal June 4, 1976, Manchester Lesser Free Trade Hall moment”, he says.

In other words, drinking those wines at that moment did for Prentice what the Sex Pistols did for punk. The wines he went on to make afterwards he thinks of as post-punk, as they’re informed by the likes of Gravner and Radikon, but reinterpreted in a way that’s uniquely and distinctly Moondarra.

His wines (the results of “pissing around” with different grape varieties and winemaking methods) are insanely delicious – rich, earthy, and a little funky. You know them – you’ve had them at Pinot Palooza.

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If the mark of a good wine is one that speaks of a place, Prentice goes one further, making wines that speak not just of a place or even a person but a whole personality. His approach is everything wine should be: loose, experimental, fantastic and fun. This is what you love about him, and why he was voted the People’s Choice winner in 2017.

——————————————————— @moondarra

DARK HORSE

GIPPSLAND Victoria’s Dark Horse Living in the shadow of the Yarra Valley and Mornington Peninsula hasn’t stopped Gippsland from producing excellent pinot noir. Here’s why we think it’s the next big thing in Australian wine.

WORDS Anna Webster PHOTOGRAPHY Kit Young

When Tamsin Carvan (of Tamsin’s Table in Poowong East) moved to Gippsland from the Blue Mountains in New South Wales 13 years ago, her motto for the region was: ‘Just a little bit crap.’ “You’d order a coffee or something and it would look good, but then it wouldn’t quite hit the mark,” she says.

Back then, Gippsland wasn’t the food and wine destination it is now. There was agriculture, of course; mostly dairy, although that was industry rather than tourism. But what it did have – and continues to have – is a unique climate. Higher than average rainfall, consistent humidity, cool nights with mild-to-warm days and beautiful, fertile soils.

“The first time I came, it was September and everything was glowing green.

I literally pulled over on the side of Main South Road and I could not stop crying. The physical effect of the green and the lush and everything was too incredible,” Carvan says.

Gippsland is a bit of a hidden secret.

The region is full of families who’ve been there for five or six generations, and land has, historically, been tightly held. But that’s starting to change.

“Over the past decade, people have moved out here because they want to do or produce something amazing,” says Carvan. “There’s a genuine, grassroots movement literally from the earth up; they’ve come here for the soil, or a particular micro-climate, or the rainfall.

“As a result, you’ve got a lot of producers, wine and food in particular, that are doing very good things because they’ve come here specifically to do that very good thing.”

Some are newcomers to the region, but many – like winemaker William Downie – are returning home. For Downie, it was never an option to grow grapes anywhere but Gippsland, so it was only when he returned that he felt he could finally get started on his winemaking career, despite working as a winemaker for 15 years prior.

“A LOT OF PRODUCERS ARE DOING VERY GOOD THINGS BECAUSE THEY’VE COME HERE SPECIFICALLY TO DO THAT VERY GOOD THING.” Marcus Satchell, another Gippsland native, has been making wine in Gippsland for years under the label Dirty Three Wines. A year ago he opened the Tasting Room which was almost immediately named Best Cellar Door in Gippsland by Gourmet Traveller Wine – the first time the magazine has even recognised Gippsland as a wine region.

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Gippsland is a big place, extending from the outer edges of Melbourne’s easternmost suburbs to the border of New South Wales, and that’s likely part of why it’s remained less discovered than other Victorian regions. The sheer scale of it is overwhelming, and visitors have historically associated the region with its natural attractions, such as Wilson’s Prom, which makes it feel further away than it is.

But, the gateway to Gippsland is barely an hour out of Melbourne’s CBD. There’s beautiful accommodation options if you want to spend a night or two. And because everyone – both those newly arrived and those who have returned home – are there with intent, there’s a real sense that something special is happening, “Everyone is doing their single-minded thing, but still being so convivial and friendly and sharing,” says Carvan. “All of us give zero shits about being cool or being this or that. We’re just doing what we think is good. It’s that simple.”

GIPPSLAND HOME OF SOME OF AUSTRALIA’S FINEST COOL-CLIMATE PINOT NOIR. AND MORE THAN 30 CELLAR DOORS.

FO R M O R E I N S P I RAT I O N V I S I T I N S P I R E D B YG I P P S L A N D . C O M . A U # E AT D R I N K G I P P S L A N D

ROAD TRIP MORNINGTON PENINSULA TRIP

ROAD TRIP Mornington Peninsula WORDS Anna Webster PHOTOGRAPHY Kit Young

Just an hour south of Melbourne, the Mornington Peninsula is home to some of the best wineries and cellar doors in the country.

We spent two days visiting a few of our favourites

Mornington Peninsula Road Trip

DAY 1 The Doctor’s bread. It’s all Dan and Peter can talk about on the drive down the M3. We’re heading to Moorooduc Estate – the first stop on our two-day tour of the Mornington Peninsula – and, in anticipation, none o f us have eaten breakfast.

Dr Richard McIntyre and wife Jill established Moorooduc Estate in 1982, and produced their first vintage in 1986. Winemaking is a science, and all winemakers possess an aptitude for it, but Richard’s medical brain – he was a surgeon before he switched to wine – places him a step above. Fascinated with wild yeasts and wild ferments, Richard’s obsessiveness meant that Moorooduc Estate became one of the first Mornington Peninsula wineries (nay, one of the first Australian wineries) to make “natural” wines.

His interest in yeast also led him into the world of sourdough bread.

“I reckon it’s the best bread I’ve ever had,” says Dan, putting the Defender PINOT PALOOZA ISSUE 1, 2018

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into park. “I hope they have some.”

We’re in luck – just. Weekends are reserved for bread baking (you can buy some from their cellar door on Saturdays and Sundays), so the loaves leftover on this particular Tuesday morning are best toasted.

Between slices, and under the begging gazes of the estate’s poodles and the keening of Reggie, the resident peacock, we look at the wines.

We’d love to linger, but we’re trying to cram as much of the Peninsula in as possible. So it’s goodbye to Richard and daughter Kate (an MW who reps for the family at Pinot Palooza), and back on the road, en route to Yabby Lake Vineyard.

Yabby Lake is an impressive spot.

A hundred or so metres of carpark and gum trees stretch between the winery and the Cellar Door and restaurant. On the other side of the restaurant, grounds dotted with Australian sculptures spill out onto the vineyards. Some of the best pinot

ROAD TRIP MORNINGTON PENINSULA TRIP

Like Moorooduc, Crittenden Estate was first planted in 1982. And like Richard, Garry Crittenden was a pioneer of Mornington Peninsula pinot noir. These days Garry’s son, Rollo, manages the winemaking, and after a quick tour of the onsite accommodation, the boutique Lakeside Villas, led by Rollo’s wife Linda, we meet him for a chat and a tasting.

The winery at Crittenden Estate was converted from the Crittenden family home – the Wine Centre, or cellar door, was once Rollo’s childhood bedroom – and it’s definitely retained a relaxed, comfortable vibe. It certainly makes it easy to get stuck into the 26 wines on tasting; in particular, the 2013 Cri de Coeur Savagnin. It’s made in the Jura style and not only is it absolutely outstanding, it’s proof of just how innovative and daring the Crittenden family are.

Garagiste

117 Aljunied Ave 2, Singapore 380117

Crittenden

noir in Australia is made at Yabby Lake, and even if the vineyard was horrible, it’d still be worth a visit just for that. As it is, the wine is only improved by the beautiful setting, making it a must-hit if you find yourself down this way.

Next, it’s off to see winemaker Geraldine McFaul at Willow Creek.

The 11-hectares that make up this vineyard were planted in 1989, but the whole site was recently thrust back into the spotlight with the opening of restaurant Rare Hare (Willow Creek’s cellar door), and boutique hotel Jackalope. At (a minimum of) $650 a night, Jackalope isn’t necessarily a cheap getaway. If you can afford it – or have occasion to splurge – then please, do so. But if you can’t, or don’t, you’ll find lunch and a wine tasting at Rare Hare to still be worth the drive. We do.

As hard as it is to tear ourselves away from the plates of mortadella and cured kingfish, we must. We’re due at Crittenden Estate.

Crittenden

Garagiste

Paringa

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Ocean Eight

Barney and Cam Marshall decided to try their hands at making their own gin in mid-2017, and with the finished product only making it onto shelves in November, we’re some of the first to try it. It’s distilled with 20 different botanicals, some – such as kelp, samphire, salt bush and wild fennel - foraged from along the Peninsula. It’s also unfined and unfiltered to give it texture. Paired with a wheel of dehydrated orange and Fever Tree Mediterranean tonic water, it’s honestly one of the best we’ve ever had.

Polperro

Our final stop for today is Trofeo Estate. The restaurant here – Whispering Vines – is always packed, especially on weekends, but although the winery itself is well known what’s less known is how the wines here are actually made. When the Greeks and Romans used to make wine they’d age it in egg-shaped clay vessels called amphora. Recently, some winemakers have been drawing on this ancient technique and aging wines in amphora of their own. One of these is Trofeo Estate. But where the others may experiment with one wine, Trofeo is making all their wine in amphora. Their “barrel” room has not one barrel in it – rather rows and rows of these big clay pots. It’s much more unpredictable aging wine this way, but it can be incredibly effective, and definitely makes for some interesting and unusual wines.

DAY 2 Peter won’t stop talking about the Cape Schanck lighthouse. He’s from Brisbane (we try not to hold

it against him), so we humour him with a quick stop at what he swears is the southernmost point of mainland Australia (it’s not. It is, however, the southernmost point of the Mornington Peninsula) before driving back to Red Hill for breakfast at the General Store.

We keep it light, because we’ve got lunch planned at Paringa Estate’s one-hat restaurant.

But first, a stop at Garagiste.

Unfortunately, there’s no cellar door here so it’s not a place where anyone can just pop by for a tasting – you do need to make an appointment.

We head into the big green glorified garage which houses all the tanks, barrels, presses and other equipment needed to make wine, where Barney has already pulled the cork out of eight different bottles of wine. We start with the Turkish delight and rose petal flavours in the Côtier gewürtztraminer and pinot gris, and move steadily through the chardonnay to the pinots. And then the gin.

We’d love to stay and really get stuck in, but we’ve got four other wineries to hit today (also, it’s like 10am), so it’s off to see Mike Aylward at Ocean Eight.

The Cellar Door at Ocean Eight is open 11am to 3pm, Thursday to Sunday, and is definitely worth a visit if you’re in the area – Mike is making some really delicious, exciting wines. He might even treat you to a barrel tasting if you ask nicely enough. Just follow the

Mornington Peninsula

ROAD TRIP MORNINGTON PENINSULA TRIP

Polperro

Ocean Eight

Polperro

Paringa

trap door down the stairs beneath the tasting room, past the crowncapped, aging sparkling, to the rows and rows of pinot noir and chardonnay. The experience here is no-frills – there’s no food offering, it’s just about the wine, which you are welcome to enjoy a glass of in the gardens if you choose. We suggest you do.

Next up, the beautiful Paringa Estate.

From the top of the hill, where we park the Defender, we can see rolling vineyards, brightly-coloured roses, gaggles of angry geese and the cellar door, restaurant and winery. We’re met by winemaker Lindsay McCall and marketing manager Nick Justice, and led down the sloping concrete path to the winery for a look at the current releases. Lindsay’s son Jamie joins us after a bit – he’s slowly taking over as winemaker at Paringa Estate – and then we’re all treated to an outstanding lunch in the restaurant. Pork, duck and pinot.

Of course.

Polperro is the next stop on the tour, and it probably needs no introduction. If you’ve ever been to the Mornington Peninsula on a winery tour, or asked a friend to suggest a winery for lunch, Polperro is likely what came up. It’s not hard to see why. The grounds are absolutely stunning, and the offering is always exactly what you’re in the mood for. A casual but top quality restaurant, excellent wines, seats with blankets in the winter, a fire pit and more. There’s even onsite accommodation if you wanted to stay for a night or two.

We have, technically, finished our tour of the Mornington Peninsula.

We’ve visited so many wonderful wineries, and we know there are many more we missed out on this time. Whether you head left towards the restaurant, or right towards the more casual cellar door, you’re afforded incredible views of the estate from both. Definitely one to stick on your own Mornington Peninsula winery hit list.

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Mornington Peninsula Road Trip

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Scan with your camera or a QR reader to follow on your mobile,

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©Alpaca.travel © OpenStreetMap.org © OpenMapTiles.org

PINOT CELEBRATION RETURNS IN 2019 Like the Venice Biennale, the Olympics (if you count both summer and winter) and fennel flowers, the MPVA’s Pinot Celebration is a wondrous event which happens once every two years on the Mornington Peninsula.

In February 2019, pinotphiles, including drinkers and lovers, makers and growers, writers and sommeliers, will come together at the RACV Cape Schanck Resort for a weekend of tastings, talks and dinners in celebration of this most noble grape variety.

But while it may be held on the Mornington Peninsula, it’s not just about Mornington pinot. This pinot party will look at examples from Victoria, Australia… the world!

“It really is an all-round celebration of pinot noir,” says the MPVA Chairman Martin Spedding. “There will be a focus on Australian pinot and the story of Australian pinot and pinot in Victoria and Mornington, but we’ll be looking at it in the context of wines from around the world.”

Hosted by Andrew Caillard, Master of Wine, the festivities will include two full days of talks, tastings and tours of select Peninsula wineries, kicking off with dinner on the Friday night at a very special location. As always, the main event is Saturday night’s gala dinner, which will be held at the brand new Cape Schanck Resort. The full program will be available online.

If you love wine – pinot in particular – you will love Pinot Celebration.

Because the event is so intimate and small-scale, you’ll get to really mingle with winemakers, growers and experts, all while drinking more delicious pinot noir than you thought possible.

Pinot Celebration is happening at the RACV Cape Schanck Resort on February 8th and 9th, 2019. Tickets are $1100 and can be purchased through pinotcelebration.com.au

A SOUTHERN SIREN Analiese Gregory on finding her place in Tasmania.

WORDS

Anna Webster PHOTOGRAPHY

Forbes Appleby

ANALISE GREGORY

You might wonder why a chef at the top of her game would swap the bright lights of Sydney for the cultural quiet of Hobart.

Of course, that’s only a comparative comparison. Hobart’s certainly laying claim to some of Australia’s current best restaurants – the Agrarian Kitchen Eatery, Fico, Templo, Dier Makr, and of course, Franklin, where Analiese Gregory is currently based – to name just a few. Still, “about once every three months, I’ll be driving home at 9pm and everything will be closed, and I’ll think… ‘what the fuck am I doing?’,” she says.

But those are rare moments. And really, the move south makes perfect sense.

Gregory was born in Auckland to a Welsh father and a Chinese-Dutch mother. At 15, she left high school for chef school. After two years, she moved to Wellington to work at finediner Logan Brown, then moved to London, worked in France, moved back to New Zealand, went to Australia, back to France, Spain, Africa, Sydney and finally Tasmania.

She’s built up an impressive resume over that time. Quay, ACME and Bar Brosé (all in Sydney); Mugaritz in Spain; The Ledbury in London; Le Meurice in Paris. She ran a popup restaurant in Morocco for three months. But, outside Peter Gilmore’s mentorship and tutorage at Quay, the place Gregory feels has had the most impact is Michel Bras’ eponymous restaurant in Laguiole, France.

“It was amazing,” she says. “There are some places that you go to and you don’t realise the effects that they’re having on you while you’re there.

And there are other places that are the opposite. I probably didn’t realise while I was there how much Quay changed me as a chef. But with Michel Bras, because it was a total immersion in such a different culture… it was basically like I was part of their family.

“I was in charge of sending people out to forage, I was going to the garden at Michel’s house every morning to pick vegetables and things for the restaurant. I lived in the village in Laguiole, which was at least an hour from the closest, tiniest airport. It was pretty isolating, but I loved it.”

Now, in Hobart, Gregory has found a return to that kind of life. Once a week she dives for abalone. She forages for mushrooms just five minutes from her house. She makes cheese, she’s going to start making cider, and she’s also going to start making wine (pinot, of course) – the owners of Franklin also own two vineyards down the channel.

“I’VE FOUND A HAPPY MEDIUM WHERE I’M HAPPY WITH THE FOOD THAT I’M COOKING BUT I’M NOT KILLING MYSELF FOR IT.” She’s also able to let her menu be dictated by the ingredients. “In Sydney I would hesitate sometimes before putting a simple tomato dish or something on the menu. But down here you feel okay about doing it.

And everyone’s like ‘Oh my god, this tomato is fucking amazing.’ And the [tomatoes] are amazing. So I do different things because the produce is different,” she says.

Does she miss the foams and gels and small, pretty plates of food she was dishing up in her previous life?

“Sometimes I miss fine dining food.

But then, life-wise, I was getting to a stage where I couldn’t, didn’t want to work 16-hour days anymore. My body was getting destroyed. And now, how and what I cook is so influenced by the produce I get. Produce comes in and we look at how we want to cook it – how would I want to eat it? What do I want to do with it?

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“I’ve found a happy medium where I’m happy with the food that I’m cooking but I’m not killing myself for it.”

——————————————————— @analiesegregory @franklinhobart

ALICE OEHR

Bringing wine and food to life.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Sam Wong

ALICE OEHR

Alice Oehr is a designer and illustrator based in Collingwood, Melbourne. She’s worked on projects for Broadsheet, Go-To Skincare, frankie magazine, Kloke and Baker D. Chirico, among others, and has featured multiple times on The Design Files. We love her and we love what she does, so we asked her to design the very first Pinot Palooza magazine cover for us.

And it’s SO GOOD! Read more about her here.

Pinot Palooza: How long have you been drawing for?

Alice Oehr: Like most kids, crayons and textas were in my hands a lot when I was growing up, so drawing has always been there for me as an antidote to boredom. But as for drawing professionally, it’s been eight years now.

PP: When did you realise you could make a living from drawing?

AO: It took me ages to realise I could make a living from drawing – it was never something I considered in high school. When I finished there, I mucked around for a few years, studying, travelling, having a good time, and then I knuckled down and studied graphic design when I was 22. After that I did a few internships, worked a few jobs, and finally had enough experience and had met enough people to begin working full time on my own a few years ago.

PP: Where do you find your inspiration?

AO: I get inspired by the most everyday things; walking around looking at my environment, chatting to people.

I love looking at shop signs and packaging (graphic design stuff), particularly when travelling, that excites me no end! Talking to people

who are passionate about something as well always makes me want to get straight to work on something.

PP: What’s your favourite thing to draw and why? How would you describe your style?

AO: I love drawing people, but my favourite thing to draw is really food.

It’s always colourful, it has natural patterns, and anyone who looks at it can connect with it. But the MAIN reason I like drawing food so much is all the experiences associated with it – celebration, family recipes, traditions, rituals, exotic ingredients, things grown from the earth… I just love it.

PP: How do you work? What’s your process?

AO: I try as much as possible to use the computer as the last part of my process; generating my ideas and sketches away from it, so I don’t get

PP: How did you come up with the concept for the cover of this magazine?

What does it mean?

AO: The idea of “Where do you pinot” got me thinking about travel and stories. The fact that wine – this drink brewed from a tiny grape – has already been on such a trip to get to us, right back to when the vines were planted.

caught up in polishing concepts that aren’t quite ripe yet. Even under the pressure of a deadline (as is always the way!) I try and think about the problem I’m trying to solve with my design as much as possible, and get to the core of what it needs to be. This always takes roughly double the time you think it will, but the result is better.

Then there are the special places we go to drink it, who we drink it with.

I love the celebration of drinking wine, but I also love to think about where it’s come from – it’s quite amazing.

This cover is a person who is looking through the lens of a wine glass to reflect on all the places this great drink has been, and will go.

PP: What’s the coolest project you’ve ever worked on (except for this one of course!)

AO: I love things surrounding food and events, so this project is perfect! I do love creating work for a party atmosphere, as it’s usually my job to make it as fun as possible. So my favourite projects have been designing a marquee for the Lavazza tent at the Spring Racing Carnival, and working on a space for the Melbourne Food & Wine Festival. I got to decorate the marquee in a full hypercolour Egyptian theme and design everything from staff uniforms to wallpaper. It was wild.

PP: We know you love food, but do you have a favourite wine?

AO: I like lots of wines and they really vary with the seasons. My guilty pleasure is not what you’d expect though: it’s that sort of Italian table wine that comes in a carafe – sangiovese and the like. It’s smooth and easy, and always accompanied by good food and good times.

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——————————————————— @aliceoehr aliceoehr.com

SAKEMATSURI.COM.AU @SAKEMATSURI

WHERE PINOT LIVES Delicate and finicky, pinot noir is a tough grape to grow. Even when conditions are climactically perfect, there are a myriad of things that can challenge the best and bravest of vignerons. For a long time, the best examples of pinot noir were being produced in Burgundy, France – the region considered to be the varietal’s spiritual home – and while there’s no denying that Burgundy still produces brilliant wines, it’s no longer the only wine region doing so.

Temperate climates in regions in Australia and New Zealand – such as the Mornington Peninsula and Central Otago – make them perfect for growing pinot noir grapes. The unique terroir of each means they’re producing their own unique expressions of pinot noir too.

And, it’s not just Australia and New Zealand that are making excellent pinot noir.

The United States, particularly on the West Coast in regions like Santa Barbara, Sonoma County and Oregon, is producing wines that would give Burgandy a run for its money.

Much like music, it all comes down to a question of style and what you like.

Over the next few pages, we explore just a few of the regions globally that are growing and making some world class pinot noir, in true Pinot Palooza style, of course.

PHOTOGRAPHY

Kit Young

WHERE PINOT LIVES - AUSTRALIA

WHERE PINOT LIVES

WA

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WORDS Samantha Payne

It may be the sunburnt country, but spotted around Australia’s edges are a number of cool-climate regions W perfect for growing piAU not noir. Each state and region produces different styles, or genres, just like in music. Here’s our breakdown.

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Pinot from this region is like a Nickelback song going around and around in your head, all day. Dark and brooding, the wines have a distinct style and are unmistakeable for any other wine region in Australia.

TERRITO

VIC

Victoria is the ‘classic rock’ of wine regions. You know all the songs and you love to sing along to them. Loudly.

It’s got the heartfelt ballads of the Mornington Peninsula, the sexy slow jams of the Yarra Valley and the funky, cool tunes that you find in Macedon, Ballarat and Gippsland. Victorian pinot is always on high rotation on our playlist (or cellar) because we know it’s always a crowd pleaser.

PEMBERTON Like the high notes in a Vivaldi song, pinot noir from Pemberton is all about high tones. Bright acid and ripe red fruited notes burst out of the glass and onto your palate.

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GREAT SOUTHERN Drinking Great Southern pinot noir is like listening to Vanessa Mae play Bach’s ‘Toccata and Fugue in D Minor’ – it’s not until a few stanzas in that you realise she’s playing an electric guitar and the whole game has changed. The wines from Great Southern are exciting spins on classic styles.

ESTERN

STRALIA

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YARRA VALLEY Drinking Yarra Valley pinot is like listening to the first line of Bruce Springsteen’s I’m On Fire. When the first hit of red fruit slides down your throat, and the acid profile and tension reverberates through your body, you really feel that sexy slow jam.

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MORNINGTON PENINSULA Mornington just wants to love you, in an epic, rock ballad kind of way. Bold flavours that make your heart burst with pleasure, but don’t be fooled – there’s a surprising amount of depth and character in these wines.

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GIPPSLAND Gippsland pinot is all punk rock; taking the classic style and turning it on its head. High tones and lots of juicy whole bunches, it delivers a persistent flavour that’s unlike any other region.

It’s Anarchy in Victoria, baby.

ADELAIDE HILLS Ever-changing and developing, Adelaide Hills pinot noir is a bit like Britney Spears. Iconic and constantly reinventing itself within the subregions; from bright and lively to soulful and soft, there is a style for everyone and every occasion.

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South Australian pinot poir is the Pop Princess of the wine world. Most of the time, the wines are fun, bright and dance across your palate. But there’s pockets within the region (I’m looking at you, Basket Ranges) where the wines get a little down and dirty, a bit funky, and push the barriers of winemaking norms (think Christina Aguliera when she dyed her hair and starting wearing a lot of leather). They don’t always get it right, but experimentation is at the heart of the region’s charm, and why pop music (like it or not) will always reign supreme.

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NORTHE

Western Australian pinot noir style just screams classical. Long, drawn-out notes, with depth of fruit and a distinct style that is timeless. There’s a hidden complexity to these wines (much like Beethoven), and the subtle aromas in the glass and the soft flavours on the palate always build to a vibrant crescendo.

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MACEDON AND BALLARAT The cool kids of the Victorian wine regions. Whether it’s the classic styles of Bindi and Curly Flat from the Macedon Ranges or experimental deliciousness from Eastern Peake in Ballarat, all the wines made in these regions are quintessentially cool.

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BELLARINE PENINSULA

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Earthy and full of soul, Bellarine Peninsula (and Geelong) is to pinot Noir what Eric Clapton’s Layla is to rock. Good times guaranteed.

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Tassie pinot is like listening to your mate’s banging hip hop playlist: fun, full of soul and thought-provoking.

Pinots from this region have the structure of a DJ Shadow song, and the flavour of Dr. Dre’s The Chronic record. Get your wineglasses ready and start scratching those vinyls, because there’s a new kid on the pinot block and they’re bringing the funk.

NSW

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S T RNorthern A L Tassie I A pinot is all about structure, showing its depth and

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EAST COAST There’s a distinct style of pinot that comes from Tassie’s east coast.

Delicate, refined and usually lighter in style, there’s a softness that presents itself on the palate like a good LL Cool J or Janet Jackson track.

HUNTER VALLEY The original boy band; you might not know it but pinot has been growing in the region since the ‘70s.

Unfortunately, most of the old vines have been ripped out, but what pockets remain are producing the most incredible fruit; vibrant, rich and paired perfectly with shiraz to make the classic Hunter Dry Red.

QUEENSLAND

New South Wales pinot noir is a bit like the kid in high school who told everyone he was going to be a great singer and got laughed at. But look who’s laughing now? The dark horse of Australian pinot regions, the wines are intricate and flavoursome with great balance and energy. Watch this space, because pinot from NSW is about to be big.

OUTH

richness whilst still maintaining its acidity and freshness. Wines that are as harmonious as Dre’s backbeat and Ice Cube’s lyrics in an NWA song.

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Wines from Tassie’s south are all about collaboration (think of those old-school mash-ups); blends of different parcels of fruit which tell the distinct story of Tasmanian pinot noir. Dark and earthy or delicate and red fruited, whatever your mood; the south has it all.

ORY

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ORANGE Just like your favourite teenage boy band (every generation has one), where every member played a different role and had a different style; this is pinot noir from Orange. Cool-climate fruit gives you different blue- and redfruited juiciness, along with minerality, acid and weight which all come together to create one cohesive wine style.

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New Zealand New Zealand may be relatively new to the world’s wine scene, but that hasn’t stopped it from producing some of the most exciting wines on the planet. Pinot noir has truly found its home here and its personality is as epic as the country itself.

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NELSON You know that person that’s always out with their wallet first, generous, charming and good to be around, well, that’s kind of like Nelson pinot, more or less. It’s generous, mouth-filling stuff that gets a bit of extra cuddly flesh, in all the right bits. Marlborough might be up the road all glamorous and the like, but we all like the charm of honest to goodness Nelson just as much. Right?

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MARLBOROUGH Primped and preened, fancy hair and nice duds, Marlborough has All The Right Stuff – the region’s got mojo for days. Dive into the full flavoured, quietly powerful pinot noirs of deadly seduction, satiny texture and ample, rich fruit character. One slug and you’re hooked. You can’t resist.

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No one remembers the person who came second, or third, and it’s tough when your neighbour (Martinborough) is a pedigree Olympic athlete that seems to come in first with unnerving regularity. That’s ok, Wairarapa goes about its pinot its own fine way, and those in the know know it’s got all the right stuff.

Soft, seductive, delicious; a real creeper.

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NORTH CANTERBURY You want the authentic, earthy, vibey Kiwi wine region, right?

Get in and amongst the farms and flowers and trees and sing Kumbaya? Well, North Canterbury is kind of a bit like that. It’s happy people, small vineyards, totally unique wines, with a touch of earthy savouriness of good measure.

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Hawkes Bay is the even prettier cousin of your pretty mate but you only get to see them once a year, and they sometimes have stuff stuck in their teeth. Not sure what that all adds up to, but Hawkes Bay doesn’t always rhyme with pinot noir, but best examples are silky and stunning.

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AUCKLAND New Zealand’s oldest wine region seems hell bent on getting eaten up

by Auckland’s sprawling diaspora of housing, but the beating heart of generational winemakers is a force to be reckoned with. Expect your pinot a touch old school, a touch grunty, a touch savoury. Good gear.

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CENTRAL OTAGO Brrr. Did it just get a little colder here? Central Otago sits way down the bottom of the world, and even enjoys bragging rights to some of the southern hemisphere’s most southerly vineyards. It was a wine region established on a collective mad vision, but produces world class, outstanding, powerful, ample pinot noir of mass seduction.

Cue the bear skin rug and fireplace.

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©Christopher David Thompson

THE CELLAR DOOR AND WINERY RESTAURANT Visit us for a tasting experience and lunch at 73 Felton Road, Bannockburn, Central Otago TWR001160

and continue the journey with us on our new website www.mtdifficulty.nz #mtdifficulty

@mtdifficulty and on

mtdifficulty

WHERE PINOT LIVES - USA

WHERE PINOT LIVES

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West Coast USA

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O R E G O N

WORDS Bree Boskov, MW

Sonoma County’s more classic pinots are hightoned with hints of jammy sweetness. Like the Eagles, it’s the classic All American crooner – mellow yet memorable.

America’s a big place.

We could do an entire feature on the wine regions of the USA, but by way of an introduction we’re just focusing on those on the West Coast. As Pinot Palooza expands into the country in 2019, we’ll delve much deeper.

SANTA BARBARA:

As for the Russian River Valley, its pinots are Bon Jovi: poppy and fun, and can do no wrong.

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OREGON: Oregon pinot is cool and earthy, savoury and smoky with a burst of cherry cola fruit. It’s folksy like Neil Young and rootsy like the Black Keys.

Pinots from the Willamette Valley are often compared to Burgundy. Uber elegant wines that command attention.

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On the other hand, pinots from Portland eschew any hints at mainstream. This region is the Pink Floyd of the pinot world – wildly creative and a little feral but undoubtedly beguiling.

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Just over an hour from Los Angeles, pinot noir from Santa Barbara (known as America’s Riviera) has all the glamour and swag of an Oscar’s after party. Glossy, bright red and black fruit, so polished and full that it almost dances out of the glass. This is the Katy Perry and Justin Timberlake collab you’ve always wanted.

Along the fringe on the Sonoma Coast, with its fog-shrouded hillsides and massive red wood trees, is where you’ll find the outliers. Its pinots are all bright fruits, red citrus and cinnamon; a little rough around the edges with slight salty and smoky flavours, like Johnny Cash or Leonard Skynard.

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SONOMA COUNTY: It might be cabernet country, but that hasn’t stopped a couple of cowboys from planting pinot in Sonoma. Known for its forested hillsides and coastal ledges, Sonoma County is also a leading region in the biodynamic and organic wine movement.

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Dive down into the Santa Rita Hills and you’ll find pinot that’s fine-boned yet chiseled, that hits the high notes like Mariah but with the grace and strength (and legs) of Beyoncé.

Pinots made in the state’s south on the border of California are more widely pleasing than any others in this region. Bathed in warm sunshine and surrounded on all sides by mountain peaks and rugged rogue river valleys, these pinots are just like Keith Urban: everyone’s mum loves.

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This coastal, high-altitude region with its white bentonite clay earth is so perfect for growing pinot it has both Masters of Wine and sommelier Rajat Parr of Sandhi and Domaine de la Cote putting down vines and making racy, sexy and energetic styles of pinot noir in these hills.

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IMAGE JACQUIE MANNING

M O UL DCHE E S E FE STI VA L .C O M . AU

WHERE PINOT LIVES - FRANCE

WHERE PINOT LIVES

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WORDS Clare Burder

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France is your friend who comes for tea, eats your biscuits, rearranges your furniture and tells you your pants are looking tight, but still you find her totally captivating. She’s so damn charming that even her flaws are endearing. In the wine industry, France is considered ground zero.

Sure, it makes its share of crappy table wine, (so does everywhere else!), but what France does best is deceptively simple: puts the focus on place and origin.

Compared to its regional neighbours, the French wine narrative is quite straightforward: there are less than 20 main wine regions and just over 50 grape varieties. Thanks to the relatively strict controls around wine production that most regions enforce, there is a sense of tradition, consistency and legacy that beautifully circumvents trends and fads. There are exceptions, of course, but all things considered, France is the classic place to start when you tackle the world of Euro-vin. Or is that vin-Euro?

If pinot noir has a home, it’s in Burgundy; but there’s more to French pinot than Burgundy. Here are some other pinot noir producing regions in France for you to try.

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CHAMPAGNE // TABLE If Beyonce is Champagne, then pinot noir from that same region is the Discover Weekly section on Spotify.

There are some gems there, but you’ve got to do some digging. The main region is called Coteaux Champenois Rouge. It covers the same area as sparkling Champagne, but refers to only still wines. It’s hard to find but if you do, you’ll find the wine to be fragrant and delicate.

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Pinot noir from Alsace is in the shadow of riesling and Pinot gris, but is worth seeking out for its evocative profile of dark berries and wild florals.

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BURGUNDY

Burgundy’s the sort of guy who wears a tux to breakfast (intimidating!) but once you sit him down and remove the gloves and top hat, you’ll find he’s just plain old wine. And by that, I mean momentously expensive, symbolic, historically significant, scarce and captivating, but still - wine. Tread with caution and deep pockets. Expect powerful flavours and savoury tones.

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LOIRE

This is one for the treasure hunters, the people who wander past the classics (in this case, chenin blanc and cabernet franc) in search of something special. Mostly planted in central and eastern Loire, pinot noir here wears many guises. From rosé and lighter styles, into deeper, more savoury tones and even in some intriguing blends.

Get exploring.

CHABLIS

Chablis is famous for chardonnay but alas, pinot noir gets a nod here too. It doesn’t have its own appellation so the bottle will say ‘Bourgogne Rouge’ on the label. It’s silky and delicious.

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ALSACE

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JURA

Jura pinot noir is all about French flavour wrapped around Swiss structure. What does that mean? Lots of fleshy, bright, red fruit flavours built around porcelain-like acidity; strong and fine. Much like those fancy sommeliers that adore these wines.

WHERE DO YOU PINOT? At first glance, this print looks like camo.

But there’s actually method to our madness.

As we grow, and the more cities and countries we expand into and wine regions who join us, the more we want our branding to reflect that.

If you look closely, you’ll see each of the shapes on this print represents one of the world’s pinot noir producing wine regions, and the depth of colour is indicative of the weight of wine that region tends to produce.

Makes sense, right?

FIVE COUNTRIES. 11 CITIES. 300 WINERIES. 36 WINE REGIONS.

DIRECTORY

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AUSTRALIA

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Portsea Estate Red Hill Stonier Ten Minutes By Tractor Trofeo Tucks Ridge Willow Creek Yabby Lake

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Sunbury

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HALL OF FAME

VICTORIA

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Ballarat

—————————————— Eastern Peake

Geelong

6Ft6 Austins & Co. Banks Road Bannockburn Bellbrae

By Farr Clyde Park Curlewis Farr Rising Jack Rabbit Lethbridge Leura Park Livewire Oakdene Provenance Shadowfax Terindah Yes Said the Seal

Almost 300 wineries have joined the Pinot Palooza tour since the festival’s conception in 2012.

Naturally, the bulk of these are from Australia and New Zealand, but since our expansion into Asia and beyond, the number of wineries from beyond our backyard is growing.

Here’s the list as it stands.

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Gippsland

—————————————— Bass River Caledonia Australis Cannibal Creek Dirty Three Fleet Lightfoot & Sons Moondarra Onannon Patrick Sullivan Purple Hen William Downie

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Macedon Ranges

—————————————— Athletes Of Wine Bindi Cobaw Ridge Curly Flat Passing Clouds

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Mornington Peninsula

—————————————— Allies Circe Crittenden Dexter Foxeys Hangout Garagiste Montalto Moorooduc Ocean Eight Paradigm Hill Paringa Polperro Port Phillip & Kooyong

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—————————————— —————————————— Ray-Monde Deux

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Yarra Valley

—————————————— Coldstream Hills De Bortoli Giant Steps Goodman Greenstone Handpicked Hoddles Creek Innocent Bystander Journey Medhurst Oakridge Punt Road Rising Rob Dolan Rob Hall Santolin Soumah Sticks TarraWarra Timo Mayer Toolangi Yarra Yering Yering Station

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SOUTH AUSTRALIA

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Adelaide Hills

—————————————— Ashton Hills Caught Redhanded d’Arenberg Deviation Road Gestalt Golden Child Golding Grounded Cru Henschke Maximus Mosquito Hill New Era Ngeringa Ochota Barrrels Shaw + Smith Spider Bill Tomich Vinteloper Yetti and the Kokonut

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Coonawarra

—————————————— Patrick of Coonawarra

DIRECTORY

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Fleurieu Peninsula Finniss River

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TASMANIA

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Tasmania

—————————————— Bay of Fires Chatto Dalrymple Delamere Derwent Estate Devil’s Corner Ghost Rock Holm Oak Home Hill Josef Chromy Meadowbank Moores Hill Pipers Brook Sailor Seeks Horse Spring Vale Stargazer Stefano Lubiana Stoney Rise Tamar Ridge Tolpuddle

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WESTERN AUSTRALIA

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Great Southern

—————————————— 3drops Howard Park Paul Nelson Rockcliffe

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Margaret River

—————————————— Cherubino Flor Marché Howard Park Moss Wood

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Pemberton

—————————————— Below and Above Lost Lake Picardy

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NEW SOUTH WALES

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Hunter Valley

—————————————— Hungerford Hill Two Rivers

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Orange

—————————————— Gilbert Ross Hill Swinging Bridge

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Southern Highlands

—————————————— Artemis

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CANBERRA Canberra

Sileni Te Awa Vidal

Lerida

Kumeu

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Murrumbateman

Kumeu River

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Marlborough

Ravensworth

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NEW ZEALAND

Ara Astrolabe Blind River Brancott Catalina Sounds Churton Clos Henri Cloudy Bay Corofin Dog Point Folium Forrest Framingham Fromm Giesen Greywacke Hans Herzog Jackson Jules Taylor Kim Crawford Lake Chalice Lawson’s Dry Hills Loveblock Vintners Mahi Marisco Matua Nautilus Novum Saint Clair Seresin Spy Valley Staete Landt Stoneleigh Te Whare Ra TerraVin Tohu Vavasour Villa Maria Wine Diamonds Wither Hills Yealands Zephyr

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Central Otago

—————————————— Akarua Akitu Amisfield Archangel Babich Bald Hills Brennan Burn Cottage Carrick Chard Farm Charteris Crown Range Domain Road Domaine Thomson Eon of Bendigo Felton Road Folding Hill Gibbston Valley Grasshopper Rock Hawkesbury Kalex Madam Sass Maude Misha’s Mount Edward Mt Difficulty Mud House Nanny Goat Nevis Bluff Ostler Peregrine Prophet’s Rock Quartz Reef Rippon Rock Ferry Rockburn Soho Tarras Te Kano Terra Sancta Thornbury Two Paddocks Valli Waitiri Creek Wet Jacket Wooing Tree

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Nelson

—————————————— Aronui Brightwater Neudorf

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North Canterbury

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Hawke’s Bay

Alan McCorkindale Bell Hill Bellbird Spring Black Estate Boneline Fancrest

—————————————— Decibel Esk Valley Junction Lime Rock

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—————————————— Greystone Mischief Mt Beautiful Muddy Water Pegasus Bay Pyramid Valley Terrace Edge The Boneline The Crater Rim Tongue in Groove Waipara Hills

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Wairarapa

—————————————— Ata Rangi Big Sky Clos Marguerite Coney Craggy Range Dry River Escarpment Gladstone Johner Julicher Kusuda Luna Martinborough Vineyards Matahiwi Murdoch James Palliser Poppies Schubert StoneCutter Te Kairanga The Elder Pinot Urlar

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USA

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CALIFORNIA

—————————————— Becker La Crema Nieslon Hahn Hartford Court Brewer-Clifton Cambria Failla Freeman Winery and Vineyard

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OREGON

—————————————— Lingua Franca Salem Wine Co.

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ITALY

—————————————— Franz Haas

DIRECTORY

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