W
hen the organisers of this year’s Pinot
Celebration invited six of Australia’s
top sommeliers to speak at their
biennial talk-and-taste festival on
Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula, they were hoping for
a report on how pinot noir is travelling in restaurants
around the country. What they got was one of the
most engaging and insightful sessions of the two-day
event, illuminated by the pinots that each of the
somms chose to present, but covering much broader
ground than just the grape variety itself.
Attica’s Jane Lopes selected the
2016 Holyman ($50) from Tasmania,
a pure and crunchy pinot with lovely
perfume and freshness. Lopes has
been in Australia for only two years,
having moved to Melbourne from
New York, where she worked at
Eleven Madison Park, and despite
having tasted and travelled
extensively since arriving, she still
brings a valuable outsider’s view.
“There’s a whole world of pinot
noir here that we don’t see in the US,” she said.
“Soon after I moved here I was invited to a retrospective
tasting of Joe Holyman’s pinot and was blown away
by how well they age. Since then I’ve come across
new producers cropping up all the time as well as the
older producers. And I’ve been impressed by what
good value pinot is here in an international context.”
Kara Maisano from Masani in Melbourne chose
the 2016 Moorooduc Estate Robinson Vineyard
($60), a Peninsula pinot with herbal spice and silky
tannins. She remembered pouring wines like thisAt a celebration of pinot noir, Australia’s top
sommeliers presented the bottles that best speak
to the grape’s pulling power, writesMAX ALLEN.
in the 1990s when the whole concept of Australian
pinot was still a novelty and most people preferred
to drink cabernet. Now, she said, there’s a palpable
sense of pride in pinot, particularly in Victoria,
where the grape variety has taken on a role as
cultural icon.
“A lot of guests that come to our restaurant will
have been to the Yarra Valley, to the Mornington
Peninsula,” she said. “And they’ve been taken aback
by the proximity of the regions and the quality of
pinots on offer. It starts a conversation when they’re
at the table, and that’s very exciting.”
Penny Grant runs the wine
program for the Ghanem Group,
which has several venues in Brisbane
including Byblos and Blackbird,
but she grew up in Victoria and
started her career as a somm in
Melbourne. For her, choosing the
2016 Onannon Red Hill ($70), a
vibrant, whole-bunchy, undergrowthy
pinot from the Mornington Peninsula
was about travelling through time
and space in a way that only wine allows.
“I love Brisbane,” she said. “But I find I’m more
connected to relationships I formed in Victoria. And
while it’s our job to put wine on the table, we also need
to support the producers we feel are doing a good job.”
Shanteh Wong, head sommelier at Quay, chose
the 2016 Chatto Isle ($65) from Tasmania (produced
from the personal vineyard of McWilliam’s chief
winemaker, Jim Chatto) – a bright, focused pinot
with long, savoury tannins – because of the buzz
the wine had generated at work.Power
to pinot
There’s a palpable
sense of pride in
pinot, particularly in
Victoria, where the
grape variety has
taken on a role
as cultural icon.36 GOURMET TRAVELLER
PHOTOGRAPHY CHRIS JANSEN (DARRAWEIT VALLEY & BLUE POLES/AMATO VINO) & GETTY IMAGES (MAIN).