In his 2018-19 100 Best Australian Wines report, Matthew Jukes, describes how the Ocean Eight, Pinot Noir 2015 manages to; ‘capture the most evocative and aromatic vanguard of fruit and launch it at you with such accuracy that it takes your breath away.’

In a nutshell:

A modern style Pinot Noir full of summer pudding and cranberry flavours, vibrant and peppery on the finish.

The producer:

Owned by the Aylward family – founders of the renowned Kooyong winery- Ocean Eight was established in 2004 in the southern and cooler side of Mornington Peninsula. In their state-of-the-art, temperature controlled, gravity fed winery, winemaker Mike Aylward produces stunning cool climate Chardonnay and Pinot
Noir, taking influence from the great old world wine regions of Alsace, Burgundy and Champagne. All the grapes for the Ocean Eight wines are sourced from the family’s 17 hectares of vineyard and their total production each year is just 5,000 cases.

The wine:

The grapes were hand-picked, meticulously hand sorted and destemmed. A cold soak took place for three to four days, prior to fermentation which took place in an open vat, using natural yeasts. Fermentation lasted for a period of four to six weeks, to maximise the aromatics. The wine was pressed to old oak puncheons of three to four years and matured in oak for 12 months. This wine was not filtered or fined prior to being bottled.

Serving suggestion:

Crispy duck pancakes or coq au vin. Also accompanies tuna and is ideal for sharing platters.