Kerri Greens has established a foothold on the Peninsula, farming their vineyards sustainably, drawing inspiration from Tom’s family; the esteemed Mornington mavericks Quealy Winemakers, where they both hold down day jobs. Winemaking also runs in the blood of Lucas, whose own roots are founded in Alsace at his family winery, Domaine Paul Blanck.
Alsatian purity meeting Australian ingenuity, their philosophy is a nod to both these rich family heritages and their pioneering spirits. These two wines were stand-outs last year and both seem to somehow have gone to new heights (despite a relatively challenging year, making these two releases particularly impressive). These wines ooze class and touch.
2022 Pigface Chardonnay / 22.50 LUC
“Succulent Pigface roams the cliffs of Kerri Greens. Its everywhere.
Hand harvested from our Silverwood vineyard, Balnarring. Fermented wild in a mix of newer & older French Puncheons. 9 months on full solids followed by a further 4 weeks settling post racking. Bottled unfined, needed a little filter.
Going from strength to strength every year we seeing more layers and dimensions in this wine, the vineyard is ageing, the viticulture maturing and the winemaking tuned in. We always aim to pick early, retaining acidity and the 2022 vintage allowed us to pick our moment without fuss or stress – always a good start point.
The acid has calmed to give the wine an almost saline backbone keeping the Intensity of flavour in check, lemon curd, meringue, roasted cashew -that creamy edge, a little nougat. Good now, good for a while.
2022 Pinots de Mornington (Rose) / 20 LUC
Rightly or wrongly The Mornington Peninsula is obsessed with Pinots – Kerri Greens worship the family.
Destemmed Pinot Noir is saigneed, Pinot Meunier pressed after a day, Pinot Gris whole bunch pressed on arrival. All within a few days of each other. The ferment builds taking place in old barrels, no additions. Following ferment, the wine is left on its lees, slowly ticking through its malolactic. As winter nears its end the Rose is taken from barrel, receiving its first addition – sulphur – before being left in a tank for a month to settle into its beautiful self, before bottling occurs. Unfiltered/ unfined.“