Sense of place: High-density wine-growing at Elanto Vineyard
The Burgundy-obsessed Australian wine-grower trying to emulate the nectar of that Pinot Eden is a well-worn trope. But it is one thing to mimic the cellar practices of your idols and quite another to dig down to the root of what makes for memorable, inimitable excellence. And another again to turn that concept into a reality.
Sandro Mosele is the mastermind and co-owner of Elanto, a 2019-planted southeast-facing site that is home to 10.6 hectares of Pinot Noir and Chardonnay. The vines are trained 0.5m from the ground and planted at a density of 11,111 vines per hectare in rows spaced 1.2 metres x 0.75 metres. But this isn’t a numbers game; this is a far-reaching farming equation, as Sandro explains.
Grapes into wine: Quealy’s skin-contact Turbul range
This is an extremely interesting style of wine, and this range has turned out beautifully. Kevin McCarthy and Kathleen Quealy wrote the first chapter on skin-contact wine in Australia. Their son, Tom, took it up a level with the first release of Turbul Friulano a decade ago.
Now, drawing on their years of friendship and learning in northeast Italy, experimentation at home and organic viticulture on the Balnarring vineyard, they have released a groundbreaking Turbul quartet: Ribolla Gialla, Malvasia Istriana, Moscato Giallo and Friulano.
In this video, Tom explains the evolution of the project, the time and technique involved and how these delicious, thought-provoking wines reveal themselves at end of the process.
Grapes into wine: Making Chardonnay
Chardonnay is the world's most-loved white grape. It is the most widely planted grape across the planet's wine regions, and is responsible for the world's most sought-after and expensive whites. Ed Merrison of Vininspo! visits a vineyard and winery during harvest to track the grapes from vine to wine to show how a top single-site wine might be made.
Grapes into wine: Making Pinot Noir
Pinot Noir has to be the most romanticised black grape on the planet. Ed Merrison of Vininspo! visits a famous Mornington Peninsula vineyard during harvest to bring you this step-by-step guide to how the grapes become a top-quality, single-site wine.
Grapes into wine: Making Pinot Gris
Pinot Gris is a monumentally popular white wine. Ever wondered how these pinky-purple grapes become an elegant, medium-bodied, cool-climate white wine? Here’s how it happens, from harvest to glass!
The joy of MV6
Clones are among the top turn-offs in wine talk. However, you will notice that they crop up (sorry) a bit with Pinot Noir - and MV6 is never far from vignerons’ lips when you’re on the Mornington Peninsula. So what is it, where did it come from and why should we care? Ed Merrison of Vininspo! attempts to answer that with the help of this grenade picked from the Scorpo family's north-facing, 1997-planted block in Merricks North that makes the Eocene single-parcel wine.