How the heartbreak grape is winning hearts (and minds)
Pinot Noir is sometimes referred to as ‘the heartbreak grape'.
No other variety is so difficult to grow successfully and nurture into great wine. No other variety produces such stunning wines when everything is done right. No other variety excites and disappoints in the way pinot noir does. Why?
Pinot noir is a fickle little sucker. Its thick skins and tight bunches make it susceptible to a myriad of diseases in the vineyard. It can easily over-crop producing wines without character and a flat personality.
But this sensitivity is also the reason it is revered by wine-lovers.
There is perhaps no other variety whose wines reflect the conditions where it is grown as profoundly as pinot noir.
The Mornington Peninsula region is small but diverse in the different growing conditions it offers. Montalto operates vineyards in four distinct sub-regions of ‘The Pen’, and as a result, we're able to create blends using a wide-ranging palette of pinot noir flavours and qualities, creating wines of exceptional complexity.
Single vineyard wines are increasingly popular among wine drinkers as they offer an authentic expression of a vineyard's fruit. The sub-regions of Montalto’s single vineyard wines display remarkably different personalities, owing both to the diversity of the region’s terroir and the ability of pinot noir to express it.
Montalto pinot noirs are commonly described as elegant and refined, with supple mouthfeel and finesse. We blush.
It's true; we make every effort to ensure our fruit is the star attraction of the wine but we also explore the benefits of a variety of cutting-edge winemaking techniques. Fruit is typically hand-plunged twice daily during fermentation to gently extract colour and tannins, and certain parcels will undergo carbonic maceration and whole bunch fermentation depending on what may suit the fruit best.
Pinot noir appeals to all palates, whether you’re a fan of fragrant, elegant pinot like our Main Ridge Block, or a powerful, muscular pinot like the Tuerong Block.
Or, if you like to have your cake and eat it too, the Montalto Estate offers the best of both worlds: a complex wine that you can drink now or cellar for the future.(That's if you can wait that long.)
Failing that, our exceptional Pennon Hill pinot noir offers fantastic value for a wine of such high quality.
We don’t know how our winemaker does it, but we’re pretty glad he does.
