Mornington Peninsula’s Moorooduc Estate has really shifted gear in the last few years. Tasting through the range last week all I could think was, how are these wines not more voraciously snapped up each year. I think this is the little lull before the storm, the wines are doing the talking for them and I now every time someone has one of these wines, Moorooduc adds another avid supporter.

The quality here is second to none and what’s more impressive is that they knock it out of the park at every level, from their incredibly affordable Devil’s Bend range, through to their McIntyre flagship. The sweet spot for me though is the estate range. There is a lot of love put into this pair of wines and the drink like those a step or two up the rung.

The chardonnay has everything in place, beautiful ripe, dense fruit, fresh and succulent acidity, and lovely, satin texture lying underneath. It’s confident but not showy, has weight and power but not at the expense of freshness and vitality. You don’t see wines this complete and interesting at this price point often.

The pinot too is superb. It’s the time of year when my pinot consumption increases markedly, and this wine is now firmly in the holster. Again, there is lovely generosity here, the nose reminds me of a classic ‘fruits of the forest’ pie straight from the oven, but here there is also a lovely lick of smoke and herbal, bunchy intrigue. I love here how the acid supports the wine rather than drives it and the densely packed, but ripe and fine tannin, just sweeps across the palate. It’s moreish and a little luxurious but there’s structure and tension too.

When you look at who is running the show down here it’s understandable why the wines are so good. The whip smart and obsessive Richard McIntyre has been on a monastic quest to craft world class pinot and chardonnay for many years. His daughter Kate, who is an MW, has a deep understanding of every little tweak and turn that goes into making great wine and then add in the significant talents of Jeremy Maygar, who came across from the highlyregarded Ten Minutes by Tractor, and you have some formidable talents at your disposal.

Just has pinot and chardonnay grow together, they are often drunk as the wines of choice for the same punter. So, tuck a case or two of the pinot under your left, and same with the chardonnay on your right, and you are going to be very well looked after for the next month or so. You may have seen we offered the 2018 pinot last year; it was that good that we have snagged some more from the winery knowing you will have polished off last year’s supply long ago.