A sneak peak into history...

Jancis, a footnote to your column last Friday about the dilemma facing the Mornington Peninsula. 

In September 1982 I planted five acres of vines on my property at Dromana: four of Cabernet, half an acre of Merlot and a quarter each of Pinot and Chardonnay. In so doing I doubled the aggregated plantings of all the vineyard area on the Peninsula at the time from five to 10 acres. (Today there are 2,500 acres.)

They were collectively made up predominantly of Cabernet with a little Chardonnay at Baillieu Myer's Elgee Park, Nat White's Main Ridge (which also had a little Pinot), George Kefford's (Nina Caplan's uncle, I seem to recall) Merricks Estate and Brian Stonier's Stoniers.

I chose to plant Cabernet in particular because of the Cabernets I had seen made by the short-lived but legendary Stephen Hickinbotham from Elgee Park fruit, but also when I did a homoclime study for my location from nearby long-recorded climatic data it clearly said 'Bordeaux', reinforced by the maritime climate as distinct from a Burgundian continental one.

All went along swimmingly, with James Halliday even choosing my second harvest 2005 Cabernet (with no Merlot blended in) to represent Australia in the Qantas Cup, a three-way competition between California, Australia and South Africa, where it performed admirably.

It's worth noting that I had chosen my site at 150 feet elevation based on a long assessment of Peninsula soils, elevations and aspects.

As the years passed and Peninsula plantings increased somewhat randomly, they gravitated towards the higher, cooler elevations where deep red volcanic soils predominate. But still people planted Cabernet, with Pinot just beginning to make some headway. The Cabernets from these locations were routinely picked, of necessity, under-ripe with aggressive tomato leaf and green capsicum characters brought about by the compound methoxypyrazine. This was due to being considerably cooler than the lowlands but also because of the shading of fruit in the canopy caused by uncontrolled vegetal growth.

Not surprisingly the wines were dismissed by the market and even a luminary such as James Halliday said the Peninsula is, quote: 'unsuited to Cabernet'. WHAT??

Our Cabernet sales gradually declined as a result of this mantra but we persevered until our last vintage in 2009, aptly labelled Les Adieux. Back label below.

We are now predominantly planted with Pinot and Chardonnay along with with the rogue Albarino/Savagnin and have just grafted the last of our Arneis to Chardonnay as well – but that's another story (told here). And don't get me wrong, happy to be so, but unsure what the long-term effects of global warming hold.

I still delight in pulling out the occasional masked Cabernet from the 1990s for visiting wine trade and commentators only to be told. 'it's very kind of you to pour an old Bordeaux for us but were really here to see what you make from your own vineyard.'

Say no more.

Last week I pulled from my cellar a 2001 Shiraz I made from fruit from a nearby vineyard. Bloody delicious even if I do say so myself.

A couple of other non-related comments.

• In the days when I was a viticultural consultant I was approached by Rob Kirby of Village Roadshow asking if I knew of a suitable property he might purchase to grow grapes on the Peninsula. Oddly enough a 100-acre block almost entirely plantable had just come on the market to be auctioned. I had coveted this acreage for years even before I purchased my own modest farm 37 years ago and had long seen it as possibly the best block for grape growing down here. I told Rob about it, and the rest, as they say, is history. Welcome Yabby Lake.
• When I was on the board of Domaine Chandon I would occasionally be in Épernay and on one such occasion Richard Geoffroy asked if I would like to meet Dom Pérignon. I was escorted to the inner sanctum where the monk himself sat behind his desk in a cloistered room – a wax effigy that is. Richard took my photo with my arm around the Dom. Even to this day people ask me which one is DP and which one is me.

This was Garry's response to Jancis Robinson MW article, Mornington - the two trick pony 

24/01/2019 at 12:18 PM Permalink

In Garry's words, how a pilgrimage to Piemonte led him to arneis

In 1992 I made my first pilgrimage to Piemonte in Northern Italy in search of the Holy Grail [aka Nebbiolo] along with the lesser luminaries Barbera and Dolcetto.I’d also heard and read about a white wine variety local to the region called arneis but I’d never seen or tasted one in Australia.

While there, I was delighted to taste many fine examples of the 3 reds but try as I might, couldn’t locate the elusive arneis.

The repeated response to my enquires was a sort of blank indifference with the advice “you want to try our Piemonte white wine then look for cortese”

Late in my 7 day visit I did locate a bottle in a restaurant in La Morra.  I recall enjoying it then forgetting about it; that was that.

Fast forward three years…

In the spring of 1995 I was invited to present our range of Italian varietals at a tasting for the Wine Science students in Adelaide University.

As I was leaving the tasting I was approached by a middle aged man who said “I’m not a student [ obviously ] but I heard you were coming to town so I gate crashed the party”

“I’m the manager of the vine improvement society at Nuriootpa in the Barossa Valley; have you ever heard of an Italian variety called arneis?” I said I had, to which he asked if I had a home for 500 vines.

It turned out that about 3 years earlier he had been approached by a local [ Barossa ] grower who requested he import, quarantine then supply him with arneis stock.

This he duly did.

When he contacted the grower in 1995 to say his vines were ready the grower sheepishly told him he had planted the patch with something else, and no longer needed them.

How there could be such a glaringly poor communication trail I don’t know.

On the spur of the moment I agreed to buy all 500 vines which were duly shipped over to Dromana beautifully uniform and about a metre high trained and staked up in 6 inch pots.

I planted them out and got a small first crop in 1997. At the time we claimed to be the first people in Australia and maybe even the Southern Hemisphere to plant the variety.

We made arneis for nigh on 20 years with varying degrees of success in sales and marketing, but time and seeming indifference to this lovely wine have worn us down.

We have grafted the bulk over to Chardonnay and I personally have made what will be our last vintage in 2018.

Open and read Garry's 'Endangered' wine a family project which tells the story of “ENDANGERED” : our arneis and turtle colonies along Australia’s East coast, a loose connection I agree.

This is mainly a human interest story more to do with the passion of a child on a mission, but that said the wine is bloody nice as well.

We have only 80 dozen for sale primarily at cellar door, so if you’re interested in trying the last of my arneis, I suggest not waiting too long

22/11/2018 at 6:38 PM Permalink

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 Permalink

Saludos 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 PM Permalink

Media 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 PM Permalink