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KING ROLLO: CRITTENDEN AND OTHER AUSSIE PINOTS
On 4th October, I was invited to join a Wine Australia “round table” tasting at Malmaison in the cobbled, gated and leafy Charterhouse Square in London. Once a Carthusian monastery, the surviving buildings here are now Sutton Hospital Almshouses.
Monasteries and Pinot Noir tend to go well together so it was very fitting that one half of the double act for the evening was Rollo Crittenden of the family-owned winery on Mornington Peninsula. The other half was Jane Ferrari of Yalumba. As usual, Jane talked and talked and then talked a bit more. But Rollo more than held his own.
Rollo is a well-travelled and open-minded winemaker. He has worked vintages in Oregon (at Yam Hill Valley Vineyards), California (Au Bon Climat) and Barolo (Brezza). Burgundy has been visited several times.
Although there is an obvious link between Oregon, Santa Barbara County and Burgundy with the red wines made on the Mornington Peninsula, Rollo says that his seminal wine experience was in Barolo. “The incredible food and wine culture dating back centuries is so far removed from anything you could ever hope to see in Australia”, he said. “I would say that my time in the Old World has given me a greater appreciation for wines of distinction.”
In 1981, Rollo’s father Garry planted three acres of Cabernet and an acre each of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir. More of the latter two were planted in 1985, 1987 and 1991. The Cabernet, however, was never successful – Mornington’s maritime climate is too cool for this variety. So, in 2009, the remaining Cabernet was replaced by Pinot.
The clones used for the initial plantings of Pinot were lacklustre: nowadays they are used for sparkling wines. The “new” ones are far superior, with smaller berries and better fruit quality. “Every year you learn more about Pinot”, said Rollo. “It’s such an exiting variety… It’s a fun ride we’re on at the moment.”
Although only 25 miles long by ten or so miles wide, the Mornington Peninsula’s soil types are many and varied. Crittenden’s vineyard has 12-inch deep sandy loam over a clay base. Rollo is “convinced that the good drainage properties of the loam help accentuate the elegance of our wines.” He also explained how he encourages and maintains soil health by the use of green mulching and composting. This, he claims, increases the microbial content of the soil and “provides greater palate weight to our wines”.
Crittenden’s Pinots are always destemmed because, Rollo said, “even if the grapes are ripe the stems are green.” Mornington Peninsula does not have the slightly warmer temperatures that permit whole bunch pressing or stem retention.
The Estate Pinot Noir 2009 had the correct, pale colour of thoughtfully made Pinot. “Pinot is an elegant, balanced, restrained wine. It doesn’t need to be a deep colour”, asserted Rollo. Although made in a warm growing year, it was brightly fruited. Like a slightly out of focus photograph, it was blurred at the edges, needing a bit more time to soften and smooth.
The Zumma Pinot Noir of the same vintage had exuberant acidity. Both wines were in keeping with Rollo’s stated intention to produce “wines that are balanced and savoury with bright acid and structured tannins. I certainly don’t want to make wines that are fruit-sweet or high in alcohol.”
A couple of additional Pinots were tasted. Only 260 cases were made by Mac Forbes of his Woori Yallock’s Pinot Noir 2010, which makes it somewhat surprising that any makes its way to London. Its blueberry and chocolate flavours evoked the relatively warm 2010 Upper Yarra vintage. Aeration exposed the oak – only 7% of which was new – but on the whole its generous and moreish style was very appealing.
Even though it was made in a notoriously hot year, during which a February heatwave reduced expected yields by half, Kooyong’s 2009 Pinot Noir Meres from Mornington was much “cooler” in style than the Woori Yallock, supporting Rollo’s assertion that “every wine must have a sense of place… On the Mornington Peninsula there is increasingly a sense of place.” It improved in the glass and had much finer fruit than the first wine, though the tannins were quite tenacious. At any rate, both the Kooyong and Woori Yallock were extremely well made, neither wine being extracted or wearing too much oak makeup.
For the record, we also tasted a pleasant Bremerton Verdelho 2009; an outstanding Pewsey Vale The Contours Riesling 2005, all “snap crackle and pop” acidity as Jane put it; the impressive (and impressively expensive) Yalumba The Virgilius Viognier 2008; Coriole’s authentic-tasting Sangiovese 2009; the assertive Skillagolee Trevarrick Cabernet Sauvignon 2004; the very drinkable Scribbler 2009 by Yalumba; a delicious Yalumba The Signature 2005; a mature Yalumba The Reserve 2002; and a decadent Yalumba Museum Reserve 21-Years Old Antique Tawny.
Stuart George
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