Winery & Vintage Info
The name for Crittenden's classic, multi-regional Italian style range of wines stems from the old Italian folk story by Carlo Collodi. Crittenden’s passion for Italian varieties has also seen winemaker Rollo work and travel extensively through the north of Italy, while Garry (Rollo’s father and company founder), has written a book on climatic comparisons between Italy and Australia. 2022 saw a redesign of the Pinocchio label, closely tying the new artwork and rebrand with the traditional Pinocchio story.
Cool wet and often windy conditions in October and November 2021 resulted in a slower than usual early growth period with flowering being both late and less productive than average (and desired). By mid December the inclement weather gave way to ideal development and ripening conditions with the near perfect weather making for an excellent harvest for both whites and reds right across the Mornington Peninsula and Victoria.
The fruit was entirely de-stemmed and the must fermented with wild yeast in open fermenters. Hand plunged throughout the ferment with the occasional pump over. It spent 20 days on skins before being pressed to a mixture of three and four year old barrels.We religiously avoid the use of new oak as it can detract from the natural structure and savouriness of many Italian varieties.After a period of 15 months in oak the wine was filtered in preparation for bottling.
