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Hello and welcome to October! I hope you’re enjoying this warmer weather – perfect conditions for a glass of our recently released Pennon Hill Rosé.
The estate has been abuzz with activity with our 2022 Pennon Hill Pinot Noir continuing its award-winning streak, our crowd favourite Sparkling Rosé available after selling out last vintage and we’re making the very best use of incredible spring produce across our menus in The Restaurant, The Piazza and Picnics.
Keep your eye out for upcoming releases of our aromatic wines, just in time for summer.
See you for a glass on the estate soon.
Cheers,
“With spring in the air, I’m turning my attention to wines that will sit with the soul-filling warmth brought on with the extra sunshine hours; three in particular come to mind...
Riesling sings spring, and reminds me that my favourite season, summer, is just around the corner. With its crunchy acidity, and wonderful florals, Riesling matches beautifully with a wide array of foods, particularly seafood and salads.
At Montalto, we make a cracking Sparkling Rosé from 100% Pinot Noir. It’s bright, fresh, effortless, and simply smashable. This wine is a perfect aperitif to help celebrate life’s little moments.
Chardonnay is always a go to spring and summer wine. Our Pennon Hill Chardonnay is all about pleasure, accessibility, and deliciousness. It’s a ready-to-drink style saturated in classic Mornington flavours of citrus and stone fruit (think: lemons, limes and nectarines) together with some thoughtful winemaking to build complexity and texture.
Over the last couple of months, we’ve released a collection of some of the most outstanding new wines in recent history.
Read about our July releases here:
August releases here:
And the highly anticipated release of our Sparkling Rosé and 2023 Pennon Hill Rosé here:
Keep an eye on your inboxes and our socials for more new releases coming soon!
Did you know that our new release wines are shared with our Wine Club before being released more broadly? Being a member of our Wine Club is also the only way to access discounts from across our portfolio.
Join our Wine Club today:
October brings the end of our brassica season of broccoli, cabbages and kales and the excitement of preparing for our summer crops.
With around 50 varieties of heirloom tomato growing safely in our green houses, it's time for us to start preparing the soil. Our own compost is spread over all of our beds, ready to nourish young seedlings.
There’s further tomato-related excitement at this time of the year as all of our heirloom tomato varieties become available to purchase onsite, with 100% of proceeds being donated to the McGrath Foundation to help support their amazing work for breast cancer patients.
Asparagus is now in peak production and ours is in absolute abundance. The last of our sugar snap and snow peas are soon to make way for climbing beans.
Our green houses are heaving with zucchini and pumpkin seedlings ready to be planted into our large market garden and our garlic crop is soon to be harvested and braided to hang in festive garlands in our Piazza.
Julie Bennett, Produce Manager
Spring is in full swing with abundant harvests of asparagus, snow peas and beans all featuring on our spring menus.
Asparagus with Meyer lemon, and snow peas with za'atar, are perfect alongside the freshest seafood with a rich butter sauce. Our take: local snapper, lightly grilled with a fermented fennel and fresh pea Beurre Blanc. The zing from the fermented fennel cuts through the richness of the Beurre Blanc, and the estate-grown peas create delicious texture. These three dishes together match beautifully with our chardonnay.
Our pasta course is always a lovely display of seasonality, with spring greens at the top of everyone’s list. I love the lushness of greens but am inspired by some of spring’s other colours namely beautiful yellow butterbeans which are absolutely singing this time of year. Look out for homemade rigatoni, with braised yellow butterbeans, chargrilled squash and a coriander seed butter, finished with one of our floral homemade vinegars. An incredible addition to our set menu.
Michael Clancey, Head Chef, The Restaurant
Mid-spring is definitely my favourite season in The Piazza - the perfect time to enjoy our newly released wines alongside our new dishes too!
My favourite new pizza is the Guanciale - sliced guanciale, cauliflower, sweet and sour onion with plenty of pecorino on top. If you’re looking for something more substantial, try our new grilled pork loin served with fermented fennel, potato and salsa verde.
But our must try dish has to be our Spring Garden Green Salad - showcasing the very best of our spring estate-grown produce: peas, sugar snaps and broad beans with goats cheese, topped with crunchy freshly toasted seeds and nuts. Our secret ingredient is marjoram which brings a sweet, floral aroma - absolutely the taste of spring sunshine.
Bowie Chan, Head Chef, The Piazza
It’s the perfect time of year for glorious spring picnics – the lush greenness of spring growth across the estate providing the perfect backdrop for a day at Montalto. Every private picnic begins with a bespoke wine tasting in our Cellar Door. Our trained staff will help you select the perfect wine for your picnic, based on your personal preferences and the generous, seasonal menu featuring the very best of our estate-grown produce.
Planning to propose? We’re excited to introduce beautifully styled proposal picnics by Céline van Galen from G+C Events and Styling. G+C are on a mission to curate beautiful, soul nourishing moments in a style that merges sustainability, gentle warmth and effortless luxury. If you’re looking to elevate your proposal by creating surroundings that allow you to become wrapped up in the moment, get in touch with our functions team today.
On Friday 27th October 2023, as part of our Contemplating Art lunch series, we welcome Archibald Prize 2023 Finalist & ANZ People’s Choice Award winner Jaq Grantford who, alongside the Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery Curator, will take you on an insightful journey into the creation of her remarkable portrait of Australian actress and beloved Playschool favourite, Noni Hazlehurst.
On Wednesday 11th October, we celebrate the power and resilience of girls across the world and also highlight the importance of empowering girls to reach their full potential. Empowering girls is key to lifting communities out of hunger and poverty. This is because when girls are empowered it has a ripple effect - it not only changes her future, but it can also impact her family as well as her community.
We are proud partners with The Hunger Project Australia to empower girls to live to their fullest potential. Through their Adolescent Girls program in Bihar India, The Hunger Project works with a cohort of girls to stop child marriages, keep girls in school, create safer environments, and drive systemic, sustainable change. This work is so important as nearly half of girls in Bihar marry before the legal age of 18, less than 20% of girls above 16 attend school and 90% of adolescent girls experience some form of anaemia.
Please join us this year to celebrate International Day of the Girl Child. If you would like to help rewrite a girl's future, please head to The Hunger Project Australia for more information about how you can help.
“Sculpture has been a part of the fabric of Montalto since the very beginning, with our first Prize opening 12 months after we opened to the public. We love sharing sculpture and it remains a pivotal part of what we do here at Montalto, however we feel that after 20 years, the time has come for the shape of this to change…
It’s already looking like a very busy party season this year! If you’re planning an end of year celebration with family, friends or colleagues, we’ve prepared some amazing festive dining packages.
A couple of months ago, our sister-estate Tucks has installed a state-of-the-art, all weather, marquee specifically designed to host exclusive events throughout the year whilst still enjoying the photographer’s dream that is the Tucks property. Flexible packages, exclusive use of the property, plenty of parking and group activities are just a few of the reasons to book Tucks for your next celebration. Email the team to find out more: functions@tuckswine.com.au
