Kooyong Clonale Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay 2022

The Kooyong estate was established in 1995 on the cool, ocean-influenced Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. The vineyards were acquired by Giorgio and Dianne Gjergja in 2004 and all the wines are now made at their state of the art, eco-friendly winery, restaurant and hotel complex at Port Phillip Estate nearby.

They are part of the new generation of winemakers shaking up the Australian wine industry by crafting wines from old vines in cool-climate sites with a focus on terroir, elegance and balance rather than exuberance or power for their own sake. Glen Hayley is winemaker here, having taken over from Sandro Mosele. The results are very fine indeed. Kooyong own three pinot noir vineyards (Haven, Meres and Ferrous), each with their own specific terroir. Haven Vineyard is surrounded by trees which protects the vines from the cold sea breezes and as such boasts the mildest climate.

Great care is taken in the vineyard with canopy management to control vigour and crop thinning to increase fruit quality and concentration, and the grapes are hand harvested. Sustainability is a key objective and only natural fertilisers and ecologically acceptable pest and disease control practices are employed in the vineyards while water reclamation systems are in place to turn waste water into irrigation.

All fermentations are spontaneous, using only ambient yeasts, and the reds are unfiltered before bottling. Some whites are also bottled unfiltered, but all are unfined.