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With Musk Creek and Tussie Mussie, this site completes the trio of Quealy’s premier league, leased Mornington vineyards. It was established by Doctors Campbell and Christine Penfold in 1994 and is mainly MV6 (while some 114 and 115 were also planted, taking advantage of the premium clones that became available around the same time). Located on the coastal plain, it sits at a very low 30 metres of elevation behind the Balnarring village, facing north on an exposed site with alluvial clay and red soils washed down from Red Hill. It’s a site that, as Tom McCarthy tells us, produces “gorgeous, small bunches of glossy Pinot Noir”.
The Pinot fruit was picked over two days; the 114 and 115 clones on the 12th of March and the MV6 clone on the 17th March. Handpicked and gently destemmed fruit goes to small vats where it ferments wild and gets pumped over lightly twice a day. Maceration lasted 28 days, after which it was pressed to a mixture of hogsheads and puncheons (approx. 20% new).
Regarding the evolution of Quealy’s Pinots since the T’Gallant days, the critical development has been in the vineyards with the move to organic viticulture and with weed and insect control and cover crops leading to greater balance in the vineyard. Vine age is a factor too. Having worked the same vines for many years, Kevin and Tom (who has overseen the winemaking since 2017) have witnessed the continuous upward arc in vine health and fruit quality—such progression is writ large in this characteristically fragrant, pretty and spice-licked Quealy Pinot.