Home > Wines We Love > 2021 Ocean Eight Pinot Gris

A prettily fragrant nose of fresh pear, mandarin zest and floral notes, a gently pleasing texture and vibrant freshness sealing the deal.

Producer
Ocean Eight
Region

Mornington Peninsula
RRP

$40
Vintage

2021
Variety/Varieties

Pinot gris/grigio
Alc./Vol.

13.5%

Pinot gris has found a good home on the Mornington Peninsula, which reliably turns out some of the nation’s best examples, and Ocean Eight is typically towards the front of the pack. You can see the brilliant 2021 vintage shining radiantly in this, with a prettily fragrant nose of fresh pear, mandarin zest and floral notes, a gently pleasing texture and vibrant freshness sealing the deal.

Tasting note

Super bright and flavourful, this is full of classic notes of pear, coolly ripe Packham and Williams, but it is also subtly aromatic, with lifted white floral, mandarin zest and orange blossom notes. The palate is impeccably balanced, with a sweep of pleasingly generous texture tightened through the finish with a combination of bright acidity and a gentle phenolic chew, making for a particularly moreish drinking experience. This would be great with food, but it’s just so complete on its own.

Themes of this wine

Pinot gris/grigio

Whether you call it pinot gris or pinot grigio, the variety has become an international star, pushing even sauvignon blanc out of the spotlight for those wanting a crisp, quaffable white without all the overt fruitiness. But the grape is much more versatile than that, making wines that can be dry and mineral or richly sweet and spicy, as well as skin-contact examples that are grippy and fragrant with red fruits and spices.

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula wine region is somewhat of a latecomer, with ongoing commercial production not taking hold until the 1980s. But it has blossomed somewhat since then. Now boasting over 200 vineyards, with 60-odd wineries and over 50 cellar doors, the Mornington Peninsula specialises in chardonnay and pinot noir, while also staking a claim to some of the country’s best pinot gris.

Home > Wines We Love > 2019 Ocean Eight ‘Verve’ Chardonnay

The ‘Verve’ Chardonnay has garnered a bit of a cult following for its zippy charms. In the cool stone fruit and citrus zone, the 2019 turns the texture up a little notch.

Producer
Ocean Eight
Region

Mornington Peninsula
RRP

$60
Vintage

2019
Variety/Varieties

Chardonnay
Alc./Vol.

15%

Mike Aylward’s ‘Verve’ Chardonnay has garnered a bit of a cult following for its fresh and zippy charms, but that’s not to say it’s ever lean or mean. The 2019 turns the texture up a little notch, though it is still very much in the cool stone fruit and citrus zone, a gently pillowy texture encasing trademark acid race.

Tasting note

This is bright and citrus tinged, with cool stone fruit, lemon pith and a smoky mineral hint. As the name suggests, this is on the bright and zippy side, but there’s plenty of texture and some gently luxurious pops of barrel fermentation complexing the whole, a gently pillowy cushion of leesy texture upholstering the vivid line of acidity.

Themes of this wine

Chardonnay

With an explosion of interest over the last few decades, chardonnay is now the world’s most planted white grape. With its ability to grow in varied conditions and make everything from sparkling wine, to lean and mineral whites, to full-bodied textural expressions, it is perhaps no surprise to see Burgundy’s key white grape become so dominant.

Barrel fermentation

Some wines are fermented in tanks or large fermenters before the wine is transferred to barrels, while others are fermented in the barrels that they’re then aged in. Barrel fermentation is a practice most commonly used when making chardonnay, but it is also employed to add texture and flavour complexity to other white wines, such as commonly with pinot gris and viognier, but it can be applied to any variety. The impact of barrel fermentation is one where fruity flavours are softened and rounded off, while adding in some yeasty, leesy notes, with a generally softer and creamier texture. The wines are typically then aged on the lees, where stirring (battonage) can add even more richness and softness to the texture, though winemakers are doing this less and less, pursuing more refined styles.

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula wine region is somewhat of a latecomer, with ongoing commercial production not taking hold until the 1980s. But it has blossomed somewhat since then. Now boasting over 200 vineyards, with 60-odd wineries and over 50 cellar doors, the Mornington Peninsula specialises in chardonnay and pinot noir, while also staking a claim to some of the country’s best pinot gris.

Home > Wines We Love > 2018 Ocean Eight ‘Verve’ Chardonnay

This is laden with stone fruit and grapefruit notes, with textural flex on the palate that is straightened by trademark freshness.

Producer
Ocean Eight
Region

Mornington Peninsula
RRP

$55
Vintage

2018
Variety/Varieties

Chardonnay
Alc./Vol.

12.5%

Mike Aylward has made a name for himself for both pinot gris and pinot noir, but chardonnay is arguably his strongest suit, making wines from the linear to the textural, but always with a defining line of vibrant acidity. With a bit more flesh on its bones than some previous ‘Verve’ bottlings, this is laden with stone fruit and grapefruit notes, with textural flex on the palate that is straightened by trademark freshness.

Tasting note

A fairly full nose of yellow nectarine, white peach, lemon and grapefruit pith accented with mealy notes, with oak present but not an overt feature. This is bright and zippy, as you might expect a wine wearing the tag “verve”, but there’s ample flavour here, too, with richness and a textural side that gives it a little pleasing heft – a sign of the warmer vintage, no doubt – but in a balanced and engaging way, with vibrant acidity teasing out those flavours through a long finish.

Chardonnay

With an explosion of interest over the last few decades, chardonnay is now the world’s most planted white grape. With its ability to grow in varied conditions and make everything from sparkling wine, to lean and mineral whites, to full-bodied textural expressions, it is perhaps no surprise to see Burgundy’s key white grape become so dominant.

Mornington Peninsula

The Mornington Peninsula wine region is somewhat of a latecomer, with ongoing commercial production not taking hold until the 1980s. But it has blossomed somewhat since then. Now boasting over 200 vineyards, with 60-odd wineries and over 50 cellar doors, the Mornington Peninsula specialises in chardonnay and pinot noir, while also staking a claim to some of the country’s best pinot gris.

Checkout our Mornington Peninsula Region Guide, here.

2021 Ocean Eight Pinot Gris Mornington Peninsula

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Pinot gris/grigio

Mornington Peninsula

Tasting note

Themes of this wine

Chardonnay

Barrel fermentation

Mornington Peninsula

Tasting note

Chardonnay

Mornington Peninsula

Bookmark this job

Save this search

Create Resume