Garry's 'Endangered' wine a family project
It would be fair to assume that Italian grape varieties and sea turtles don't have a lot in common. But for Garry's latest wine 'Endangered' this is not the case.
In 1995 when he saw Italy's Arneis becoming forgotten, he planted the Piemontese variety on the estate, the first vineyard in the Southern Hemisphere to do so we believe. 2018 is tthe final vintage of his Arneis as the vines are now grafted to Chardonnay.
Fast forward a little from 1995..While Garry and his grandson Oscar were watching a video "Straw no More"(Google Molly Steer), Oscar decided to help the sea turtles by campaigning to abolish the use of plastic straws; even writing to McDonalds to fight for the cause.
Oscar had given Garry a picture of the turtles he'd drawn at school. Seeing synergies between the two plights, Garry decided to use Oscar's picture as the label for his latest, and final, Arneis release. A lovely culmination between the two projects.
To further support Oscar's cause, Garry is personally donating $20 for every case of Endangered wine sold to a Turtle Rehabilitation Centre in Cairns.
Garry's 'Endangered' Arneis is available for tasting and purchase in our wine centre, however with only a small quantity produced, we suggest not waiting too long...
Images supplied my Mornington Peninsula Essence Magazine, images by Yanni
21/11/2018 at 10:47 AM
PermalinkSaludos Spritzer Recipe
Looking for the perfect aperitif before your next dinner with friends? Bring a touch of Spain to your dinner and get everyone talking..
This Crittenden Family recipe is a great way to use our Saludos. We served it to guests at our recent Pre Vintage BBQ and it was a huge hit.
So here’s the recipe...
Pour into a glass:
100mls 2017 Los Hermanos Saludos
30mls Aperol (about a shot)
Build on Ice
Top with a little tonic water and garnish with a sprig of mint and slice of orange. Perfect.
The Saludos Spritzers were a definite success at our Pre-Vintage BBQ event, empty glasses everywhere!
08/03/2018 at 2:30 PMMedia Review "The Big Chair" by Max Allen
The esteemed wine writer Max Allen has written an article on Garry Crittenden's feature wine "The Big Chair" in the Australian Financial Review. Click here to read.
12/02/2018 at 2:17 PMIt’s Silver for Crittenden Estate at the Victorian Tourism Awards
The Crittenden Estate Wine Centre was recently awarded Silver at the Victorian Tourism Awards in the category of Tourism Wineries, Distilleries and Breweries.
For a business that prides itself on not only high-quality wines but a high-quality visitor experience as well, we were thrilled to win silver at these state awards.
The Crittenden team were proud to be amongst an amazing array of businesses in this category including Bright Brewery, a very deserving winner of the gold, and Mornington Peninsula Brewery who were awarded Bronze. Special mention of course to the other finalists in the category, Little Creatures Geelong and Sedona Estate.
Reflecting the complete visitor experience at Crittenden Estate, it was a wonderful achievement that our Lakeside Villas at Crittenden Estate were also awarded Silver in the category of Self Contained Accommodation.
The Victorian Tourism Awards represent an industry framework for peer recognition which fosters a culture for business development excellence and innovation.
They present an invaluable benchmarking opportunity, looking at all elements of a business from Marketing, Sustainability, Business and Community engagement.
The award is a credit to the Crittenden Estate team and the amazing work that they do not only within the Wine Centre but with the broader wine industry, tourism industry and community as a whole.
The Crittenden Wine Centre is open 7 days per week, 10.30 - 4.30pm providing seated wine tastings for guests to enjoy.
24/11/2017 at 9:42 AMGarry Crittenden awarded "Tourism Legend"
Each year the Mornington Peninsula Regional Tourism legend award recognises the outstanding contribution by an individual to the Mornington Peninsula tourism industry.
Last night we were honoured to learn it had been awarded to Garry Crittenden.
Announced at Moonah Links golf course by last year’s recipient, Max Paganoni from Max’s at Red Hill Estate, the award was presented to Garry in front of industry colleagues and the State Minister for Tourism, The Hon John Eren MP.
Over the years Garry has served on many industry and tourism bodies at a regional, state and federal level, always taking a broad view of the importance of industry cooperation.
A major driver and strategist for tourism growth for over 25 years, he played a lead role in the very first umbrella-peninsula tourism group when he headed up the Mornington Peninsula Tourism Forum. “It’s fair to say that in the years that MPTF was in place, it catapulted us from a sleepy backwater of holiday homes for the rich, to a must visit year-round destination, helped in no small part by the burgeoning wine industry.” Garry said.
Garry has always recognised the importance of tourism and engaging the customer. It was 1992, when we opened our first official cellar door and with it the first winery café on the Peninsula. It was early days, but Garry and Margaret recognised the importance of pairing a food and wine experience and helping to promote the Peninsula as a food and wine destination.
Garry said, “It’s wonderful to see how the destination has grown and evolved over those years The Mornington Peninsula is now recognised nationally as a premium food and wine destination.”
In his acceptance speech, Garry acknowledged the work and innovation of his wife Margaret in establishing the restaurant and Cellar Door at Crittenden Estate, “While I was at a wine tasting event in London for Australia Day, showcasing Australian wine, unbeknown to me, Margaret was at home working with draftsman and creating the concept for what our food and wine experience was to become. This award is a reflection of Margaret’s contribution, just as much as it is mine.”
In 2012, Garry was inducted as a Melbourne Food and Wine Festival Legend. This was recognising his pioneering work introducing new Italian grape varietals to Victoria, for his commitment to the development of the Mornington Peninsula wine region and inspiring many Australian winemakers.
22/11/2017 at 1:52 PMPersistence and Belief leads to Dual Trophy Win
They say all things happen for a reason, which is perhaps why one of the Australian wine industry’s biggest mix ups, has led to one of Crittenden Estate’s most celebrated successes.
At the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show held on November 8 - 11, Crittenden Estate’s 2013 Cri de Coeur Savagnin won the trophy for best French Varietal and then went on to win the trophy for best White Wine of show.
Regarded by the industry as one of the best wine show’s in the country, The Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show (AAVWS) is a forum for wines that fall outside the mainstream. The show had more than 800 wines entered, made by 226 different producers, grown in 66 unique wine regions. Throughout the event, over 100 different grape varieties were tasted.
So how did this success come to be?
In 2008 many Australian vignerons, including Crittenden Estate, inadvertently planted Savagnin in the belief they were planting the Spanish variety Albarińo. However, upon a visit by France’s top vine identifier, Jean-Michael Boursiquot, the mistake was realised.
Whilst many winemakers attempted to graft vines, or even rip them out altogether, Crittenden Estate turned its focus to the home of Savagnin, the Jura region in France, and began ageing their tiny production under a yeast flor or ‘voile’ to add a nutty, oxidative quality to the wine. And so began a journey of education, perspiration and frustration, which has ultimately resulted in this highly acclaimed wine. A Cri De Coeur (cry of the heart) if ever there was one!
With the first vintage produced in 2011, Winemaker Rollo Crittenden has continued to evolve the wine making technique of this Jura style wine for the 2013 vintage.
Rollo said, “We never could have hoped to make such a highly regarded and now awarded wine when we embarked on this project. At first, we were just trying to salvage a bad situation and have a little fun along the way. It goes without saying that I am delighted to receive these awards for a wine that ultimately started as a viticultural mistake – especially from a wine show that I hold in such high regard.”
Apart from these AAVWS awards, industry experts have also shared their praises for Crittenden Estate’s 2013 Savagnin
“This wine is a triumph. A few Australian winemakers have attempted the style but Crittenden Estate has absolutely nailed it… it is one of the most intriguing and captivating wines I’ve tried this year”. Dave Brookes, The Adelaide Review, August 7th 2017
“The second release of this vin jaune-inspired white wine - savagnin aged for years in barrel under a layer of flor yeast - is even more outstanding than the first: gorgeous nuttiness and tangy complexity.” Max Allen, Gourmet Traveller, June 2017
"This has been so anticipated by me I nearly wet my pants opening the carton. Then it got lost in a blind line up of ‘other whites’ but so easily found. Smelling it makes me want to take a big gulp of it. Crittenden are the only people in Australia really, truly, taking their bounty of savagnin for table wines seriously". Mike Bennie, winefront.com.au, 17 May 2017
16/11/2017 at 10:23 AMSpring Garden Party
Crittenden Estate recently hosted it's annual Wine Alliance Spring Garden Party. An event exclusively for our Wine Alliance Club members, guests were able to enjoy a wide range of Crittenden Wines beautifully paired with Indonesian fare from Andrew Grinter's new venture Social in Blairgowrie.
Thank you to all who joined us and we look forward to doing it all again next year!
Here is a little video from the day
02/11/2017 at 12:13 PMSpring time at the Estate
The vineyard has come to life in the past few weeks signalling the start of the growing season. A healthy cover crop can be found in the mid rows of the vineyard, with broad beans and snow peas amongst some of the crops. This will provide essential nitrogen for the vines along with plenty of options for spring salads and side dishes for the dinner table.
Work in the winery has been steady over winter. Our estate Chardonnay and Pinot Noir are developing nicely in barrel, where they will spend a few more months before blending and preparing for bottle. In the meantime we are preparing the 2017 Peninsula range of wines due for bottling in November. The core Peninsula range will be joined this year by a new Peninsula Rosé made entirely from Pinot Noir sourced from Main Ridge.
So far the wines are showing great promise. The whites are defined by great acidity, freshness and balance with the reds showing elegant fruit expression and fine detail. Drinkability will be a key feature of the 2017’s but they will cellar well if you can resist the temptation.
Matt Campbell, Assistant winemaker and winery manager
05/10/2017 at 11:09 AMThis Season's Food + Wine
Winter has arrived. As the evenings get cooler, the fires are stoked and many of us start to enjoy our red wine even more.
So it’s a good time to think about what food pairs well with your favourite red. Our friends from Hillock Down Produce Store in Rye have provided us with this great, warming recipe that will go perfectly with our 2015 Crittenden Estate Kangerong Pinot Noir.
Polpette - Meatballs in Tomato Sauce
by Hillock Downs Produce Store
INGREDIENTS
1 kilo Hillock Downs grass feed beef mince
150 grams of breadcrumbs
180 grams of Parmesan cheese greated finely
4 tablespoons of fresh Italian parsley, chopped finely
4 eggs
160 ml of olive oil
2 onions finely chopped
1 garlic clove
2 kilo of Hillock Downs passata sauce
2 bay leaves
Extra grated parmesan cheese and chopped parsley to serve
500 g of your favourite pasta
METHOD
Mix breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley with the beef mince. Add 3 eggs first and mix well. Mixture should all come together. If it feels too dry, add the 4th egg. Roll mixture into balls. Heat oil in a pan that’s large enough to hold all the meat balls. Cook meatballs until golden brown as they brown lift them out. Fry onion and garlic until sautéed, then add the passata sauce. Add all of the browned meatballs back to pan with Passata sauce. Add bay leaves and simmer for 40 minutes. Cook pasta according to packet instructions until al dente. Maniare!
TO SERVE
Place cooked pasta in a large bowl and spoon meatballs over the top. Sprinkle with extra parmesan cheese and parsely.
MATCHED BEVERAGE
2015 Crittenden Estate Kangerong Pinot Noir
ABOUT HILLOCK DOWNS PRODUCE STORE
We at Hillock Downs are committed to providing you with the best beef made by nature. We are MSA licenced producers and pasture certified which means there are no hormones and are antibiotic free animals. We make sure the animals are treated with the utmost respect. Our cattle are all born and raised right here on the farm using traditional and sustainable farming practices.
151 Dundas St, Rye
Tel: 0413 777 737
hillock-downs.com.au
If you’re looking for some other great wine recommendations for this season, the following tipples will be just perfect for your winter months:
- 2015 OGGI B, the white wine for red wine lovers
- 2016 Pinoccchio Sangiovese
- 2015 Geppetto Cab Merlot
- 2015 Los Hermanos Homenaje
05/07/2017 at 11:05 AMThe Steady Hum of Vintage
The steady hum of vintage has wound down to a gentle whisper of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir slowly finishing their ferments. 2017 has been a very promising vintage for Crittenden Estate, the journey to this point beginning around spring 2016.
Our vineyard sprung to life right on schedule and was followed by strong, healthy spring growth. The vineyards flowering period coincided with a cool spell in November, leading to reduced potential yields and a few nerves leading into summer. A hands on approach and attention to detail in the vineyard helped reduce the threat of disease from high humidity and heavy rainfall over the New Year period. A mild to warm summer ensued, along with timely rainfall, aiding the vineyard in the approach to harvest. For us, the 2017 vintage will be defined by the near perfect ripening conditions of late February and March. Mild days, cool nights and dry weather led to a stable, prolonged ripening for our grapes, with our various blocks picked at optimum balance and ripeness.
Things moved very smoothly in the winery this harvest. Batches of fruit arrived in timely fashion and were given their deserved full attention by the winery team. Time enough to put some premium Pinot Noir through our little basket press, gently extracting the skins, giving superb results. The whites exhibit lovely natural acidity, ripeness and balance. At this early stage the potential quality is very high. The Pinot Noirs have an elegant poise, fine subtle tannin and are less boisterous than 2016. They poses excellent expression of place and in time will become archetypical Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noirs.
With winter setting in the vineyard begins to shut down and winery slips back a gear or two. There is, however, plenty of work to do and the excitement of seeing the 2017 wines develop in barrel will provide ample inspiration.
05/07/2017 at 10:46 AM