Elgee Park, a name many won’t be familiar with, is the oldest vineyard on the Mornington Peninsula having been established in 1972. It heralded the Mornington Peninsula’s third, and perhaps final re-birth as a wine region, but that is another story. The vineyard was established on the property of Baillieu and Sarah Myer (of the Myer department store empire) in Merricks North. The original plantings at Elgee Park included cabernet sauvignon, as Bordeaux varieties were initially favoured in the very maritime influenced region of the Mornington Peninsula. (The earlier ripening chardonnay and pinot noir only later taking popular hold.) The difficulty with cabernet sauvignon in the region is getting it ripe. The Mornington Peninsula is cooler than its latitude might otherwise suggest. However, since 2009 was an extremely hot local summer, I thought this wine worth a try.
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| The view from the Merricks General Wine Store, purchased by Myer in 2008. |
The result is indeed a pretty good wine. French oak, cloves, garrigue, spice, cassis, eucalyptus and mint feature in terms of aroma. The palate is drawn together by peppercorn, cloves and capsicum, together with medium length and body. But most of all, you can almost taste the shimmering heat of a hot summer and pine needles, the latter very common on the Peninsula. I found this an interesting wine, if perhaps atypical for what the region is capable of with the grape. Acceptable to Good
Abv: not recorded
Price: $35
Vendors: Check http://www.wine-searcher.com/
Website: http://www.elgeeparkwines.com.au
Tasted: 2012
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