Moorooduc Estate Pinot Noir 2020 (Mornington)

2019/2020 is the first cool growing season we have had since 2015, which seems counterintuitive when you reflect back on the news of Australia’s terrible fire season over the summer – we were very lucky, and the conditions here were quite different for us than they were for a lot of Australia. The season started well, with plenty of moisture in the soil and moderate weather conditions. Spring was unseasonably cool, with strong westerly winds resulting in some reduction of fruit set. The drought conditions seen farther north of us extended south in mid-season bringing the most rapid drying of the vineyard we have ever seen. Mild conditions persisted over January and February with intermittent rain events, and cool conditions during the ripening time and lead up to harvest. We escaped the bush fires and the resultant smoke taint seen in other parts of Australia at that time. Vintage started on the 8th of March, three weeks later than in 2019.