The Big Red Book
It was a labour of love that spanned 27 years. Margaret Crittenden's collection of clippings and cuttings from all sources documenting the growth of the Mornington Peninsula wine industry from its embryonic state to the powerhouse it is today.
Click here to read an article found in Western Port news about the handing over of the Red Book to the Shire in a ceremony held at Crittenden Estate. Click here to read a digital version of the Big Red Book.
11/06/2021 at 2:41 PM
PermalinkWinter Wine Weekend
Despite a snap lockdown, the Winter Wine Weekend will be brought to life a few weeks hence, starting on Saturday 24th July with the showcase festival at the Red Hill Showgrounds. Wineries will be welcoming guests with open fires and fine wines throughout the weekend and in true mid-winter style, wine lovers will be keen to rug up to experience world class wines and some of the state’s most celebrated food. Here at Crittenden Estate we have some exciting things planned surrounding a "truffle and pinot" theme; stay tuned for more information!
Book for the showcase festival at the Red Hill showgrounds here
Book a wine tasting over the weekend at Crittenden Estate here
03/06/2021 at 2:28 PMOne Hour Out
In wine terms, “Vintage” is the harvest of the year’s grape crop and making it into wine. It’s like the Grand Final for wine producers. All the hard work during the year, nurturing vines and managing the health of the soil and vineyard culminates in a few mad weeks of picking, fermenting, crushing, racking, and all the things that go into making that precious juice....
We loved hosting Mike from One Hour Out over vintage. Spent a lovely morning showing him around and chatting about the things we do here and how we came to arrive at this point, including all things family. Click on the article below to read!
03/06/2021 at 11:57 AMInternational recognition for the Pinots of the Mornington Peninsula ...
It’s always great to see international recognition for the Pinots of the Mornington Peninsula but never more so than when it comes from as prominent a wine commentator as Susy Atkins writing in the UK Telegraph of May 14th.
“Second only, globally, to Burgundy the home of this revered and viticulturally demanding grape” she says.
Click here to read the full article.
25/05/2021 at 2:18 PMCrittenden Estate - Best Large Cellar Door on Mornington Peninsula
We’re very proud to be flying the Mornington Peninsula flag high in this year’s Cellar Door Awards – being named the region’s BEST LARGE CELLAR DOOR by Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine.
We don't consider ourselves to be large - in fact in our guided seated tastings we strive for intimacy and engagement, but it’s our informally informative approach which most likely appealed to Gourmet Traveller Wine’s judges and of course many wine loving visitors we enjoy welcoming every day to Crittenden Estate.
Here’s cheers to our Wine Centre Manager, Vanessa Crouse and the team Jade and Ben who ensure a personalised tasting experience for each and every visitor, passionately sharing the stories behind every glass, our sustainable approach to winemaking and their deep knowledge of wine and food matching.
Congratulations as well to fellow Mornington Peninsula wineries recognised in Gourmet Traveller Wine Best Cellar Door Awards with Star Cellar Door, Quealy; Best Small Cellar Door, Kerri Greens, Winery; Best Tasting Experience, Ten Minutes By Tractor; Best Cellar Door with Food, Pt Leo Estate; Best Cellar Door with Additional Experience, Montalto – what a fantastic, must-do list of Cellar Doors to (re)visit in our region!
To read more about the award click here.
23/04/2021 at 1:05 PMIn the News
We've had a few of our wines show up in media articles over the last week or two. Read on to see which ones got a mention....
The Nobility of Victorian Pinot Noir - Written by Stuart Knox about Victorian Pinot Noirs. The Zumma 2018 Pinot Noir gets a glowing report. Click here to read.
Gourmet Traveller Wine - Feb/March 2021 edition - Top 100 New Releases features the 2016 Cri de Coeur Savagnin and the 2019 Cri de Coeur Chardonnay each receiving five stars and 95 points. Click here to read about these and other top wines.
And finally, on a more general level, we got a great mention in Richard Cornish's article in The Age on seated wine tastings - see here.
04/03/2021 at 3:29 PMGOOD MORNINGTON
When Garry and Margaret Crittenden first started talking about pinot noir in the early 1980s, a pattern of confusion quickly emerged. ‘Pinot what?’ was the typical response among local friends and acquaintances. Likewise, many were baffled by the Crittendens’ decision to plant vines – of any kind – in the Mornington Peninsula, a region with little wine cred at the time.....
Click here to read this recent article found in MINDFOOD Magazine, written by Kate Symons.
03/02/2021 at 1:26 PMViable Viticulture
Jancis Robinson, the London based wine commentator, is without question the globe's most highly regarded practitioner in this field at the moment. When she called for entries in her now traditional annual writing competition, this year on the subject of “sustainability” in the world of wine production, Ed Verrill, a two-time vintage worker with us here at Crittenden Estate, quickly put up his hand as an independent observer to write the story of our sustainability journey.
First mentioned on the website last year with links to the Jancis website, Ed's article has now been published in local magazine "Peninsula Essence". To see this, click here.
02/02/2021 at 9:49 AMBest provenance, best white and top 50 vineyards.
Ending the year on a good note…
2020 is a year we’re all going to be happy to draw a line through, but as the year draws to a close, we’ve been humbled to receive some welcome good news with a swag of different accolades. The recognition is always a lovely reward for our sustainable viticultural endeavours and hard work in the winery.
2020 Mornington Peninsula Wine Show
This annual event sees Mornington Peninsula wine makers invited to submit samples for judging under national show conditions by an expert panel. Amongst some gold and silver medals, we were honoured to receive two Show trophies:
Chardonnay Provenance Award - The Zumma Chardonnay
Judged across three separate vintages from a single vineyard, awarded for quality and consistency spanning all three wines. We submitted the 2014, 2017 & 2018 of The Zumma (named after Zoe’s childhood nickname) grown from our Estate grown fruit from vines in excess of 30 years of age.
Best White Varietal – Cri de Coeur Savagnin
This variety – a signature of Rollo’s winemaking toil and innovation - continues to receive critical acclaim with our just released 2016 vintage awarded the overall Best White Varietal at the show.
Plus, we’ve just been named in the Top 50 Finalists in the inaugural Vineyard of the Year.
A national initiative by the Young Gun of Wine, this new award program aims to shine a light on Australia’s best vineyards – the places where wine comes from, practices of sustainable grape growing and the pursuit of fruit and wine quality. With over 6,000 grape growers around the country to consider and hundreds of entries, being recognised amongst the finest fifty vineyards is an honour. It also reflects our family’s passion and connection to the land and our philosophy that good wine always starts with the soil. Read more about the Vineyard of the Year here and our entry, that details our vineyard and sustainable grape growing approach, can be read here.
21/12/2020 at 3:22 PMCrittenden Wine Centre will be reopening from October 30
The Crittenden Wine Centre is delighted to be welcoming guests for tastings from Friday 30th October 2020.
Join us in our new outdoor seated terrace area to experience our tastings alfresco style. We will be offering a selection of six wines that give a broad representation of the Crittenden portfolio. Tastings will be $10 per person.
Although not essential we would recommend that you book prior to arrival. Please phone 5987 3800 or email winecentre@crittendenwines.com.au
Share in the bounty
Finally, we've had quite a harvest of broad beans thanks to the inter-row cropping program in our vineyard and we wanted to share the bounty. Be sure to ask about our sustainable winemaking practices and enjoy a take home bag of fresh, organic broad beans with any wine purchase made (while stocks last).
We look forward to welcoming you here soon.
30/10/2020 at 9:59 AM