Tasting Notes: An approachable, soft chardonnay that's big on fruit and low on oak. Plenty of ripe stone fruits and tropicals, mango, pear, peach and fragrant ripe melons. The palate has smooth, mellow texture and finishes with a sweep of toasted cashew nut flavour. Drink now. Viticulture: Sourced from a combination of our vineyards, these vines were given a cane pruning and an open canopy maintained throughout the growing season on a VSP. The fruit was picked relatively early on 25th february to capture the lighter tropical & citrus flavours. Vinification: On arrival the grapes were gently pressed and left for 24 hours to settle before being racked for fermentation. One third was fermented in tank whilst the rest was fermented in some new & seasoned oak. The wine was left for 10 months with occasional lees stirring to aid development of complexity, mouthfeel and richness.
Junior Jones Pinot Noir 2015
Tasting Notes: Another rock solid Jr. Jones Pinot Noir that follows in the same vein as the '13 - a real showcase of just why Mornington Peninsula pinot noir is so darn good. Trademark dark garnet colour and smells of ripe wild red and dark cherries, toasted spices and forest berries – really youthful, fresh and concentrated. The palate is smooth and supple with plenty of flesh, velvety tannins and long dark cherry flavour. Viticulture: Sourced from a combination of our vineyards, these vines were spur pruned & then thinned to 2 buds. A VSP canopy was maintained and some leaf-plucking on the southern side to permit air movement and light into the vine. Little water was applied as we were blessed with adequate rains at the critical times. Harvest was early this year, picking 3rd & 10th March. The two batches gave us different baumes and flavour profiles to work with in the winery. Vinification: Grapes were de-stemmed and transferred to a closed fermenter without crushing. The fruit was allowed a cold-soak maceration and slow start fermentation. The wine was 'pumped-over' twice daily before being pressed after eight days. Following settling in tank the wine was racked to barrel where it underwent malo. It was left on fine lees for four months before being rack & returned for a further 6 months. The wine was given gentle fining and filtration to assist in the fruit expression and character prior to bottling
Junior Jones Pinot Grigio 2013
Tasting Notes: A crisp, fresh and lively grigio that's brimming with ripe pear fruits, sweet florals and attractive fresh, fruit salad aromas. The palate builds peach and nectarine fruits, pears here as well, very lively crisp and crunchy. Drink now. Viticulture: Sourced from the north-west sloping block at our Morning Star Estate, this fruit was cane pruned and trained VSP. The vines were summer pruned and leaf-plucked on the southern side allowing plenty of air movement & sunlight into the canopy. With a specific requirement of fruit for the Grigio style we picked early on 23rd February. The earliest we have ever picked. Vinification: The grapes were top loaded straight into the press on arrival at the winery. The juice was allowed to settle for 24 hours with no enzymes before being racked for fermentation where we inoculated with a specific yeast. The must was left on lees for four weeks before being clarified & fined ready for bottling on July 14th.
Jones Road Wines
Jones Road Chardonnay 2014
Tasting Notes: Our Jones Road Estate Chardonnay is a selection of superior quality in the vineyard and made with a view to adding gentle complexity in the winery. Whole bunch pressing, minimal juice settling and incorporating grape solids during barrel fermentation all work to deliver a complex and engaging young chardonnay. Oak maturation is carefully monitored to ensure the right amount of time in oak is married with the right balance of new and seasoned barrels. The 2012 Jones Road Chardonnay shows concentrated cool-climate chardonnay characters of grapefruit, peach and nectarine fruits, smooth complex texture and effortless balance. Viticulture:To achieve the elegance, depth & characters which we require, the vines are cane pruned to achieve an even canopy. Shoot thinning is performed as early as possible in September to ensure a low number of shoots per vine helping us create an open canopy. This gives us good air circulation and even ripening. Summer pruning on the northern side promotes a relatively early harvest. Vinification: The hand-picked fruit was whole bunch pressed & cold settled before being run to barrel & tank for fermentation at low temperature to preserve the fruit characters. The French oak barrel (30% new) fermented component was lees stirred for 3 months to promote oak integration & textural complexity. The two parcels were blended together prior to bottling under screw cap. Alc/vol: 12.5%
Jones Road Sauvignon Blanc 2015
Tasting Notes: The signature Jones Road Sauvignon Blanc style gently combines intense cool-climate fruit character with gentle winemaking complexity. There's added richness in 2015 due to the warm dry season. The wine shows attractive, ripe tropical and citrus fruit characters with some savoury French oak. This brief time in wood also adds subtle palate richness; bright natural acidity keeps the finish, crisp and fresh. Viticulture: Sourced from our small block vineyard near the winery, at Yarra Glen, these vines are cane pruned and bud numbers are carefully managed. A VSP trellis ensures an open canopy and careful leaf plucking allows the harvest of consistently ripe, healthy fruit. Harvested: March 12th. Vinification: Our winemaking approach is based on carefully enhancing the innate fruit character to make a fresh, complex and distinctive sauvignon. Approximately one third of the wine completed fermentation in neutral French oak barrels where it also remained for a brief period on yeast lees. The two components were blended together and bottled in September 2014.
Jones Road Pinot Noir 2013
Jones Road Pinot Gris 2015
Tasting Notes: A rich and complex pinot gris with some savoury wild yeast and French oak complexity – it smells of citrus, spiced pear and apple fruits with freshly baked spiced bread and honeysuckle. The palate has a delicious core of concentrated pear and apple flavour in the middle palate, more spicy complexity here too, finishing soft, clean and fresh. Viticulture: Sourced from our vineyard further south on The Peninsula, these vines were spur pruned and shoot thinned to 24 shoots per vine on VSP. A reasonable canopy was maintained through summer as we intended these grapes more 'hang-time' for a more fruity, luscious Gris style. The vines were grown 'dry' to increase root activity & search for deeper tannins. Harvest : 13th March. Vinification: The fruit was top-loaded to the press without crushing or destemming to avoid extraction of harsh phenolics or flavours and then pressed gently to tank. It underwent a 24 hour settling before being racked for fermentation in a combination of tank and older French oak barriques. Natural indigenous yeasts were allowed to commence the ferment in the barrels, while selected yeasts were used for the tank fermentation. Some of the ferments 'stalled', which we decided to allow leaving some residual sugars. Bottling: 11th November
Jones Road Shiraz 2012
100% Mornington Peninsula Wines. Tasting Note: The wine, a rare treat for us at Jones Road, is deeply coloured and has a range of ripe dark berry and plum fruits with plenty of cool-climate pepper and spice. Tannins are fine and the finish is juicy, fresh and well balanced. It is approachable to drink now and will build further spice and savoury complexity if cellered for up to ten years. Viticulture: The near perfect 2012 vintage conditions saw our small patch of Shiraz ripen evenly, with great consistancy throughout each row. We crop at very low level, not exceeding 2 tons per acre. This is achieved by cane-pruning and using VSP trained canopy to ensure as much sunlight into ripen the fruit and prevent disease pressure. The shoots are thinned to create even spacing along the cordon. At veraison the leaves on the southern side are removed to help ripen the berries. Harvest: March 23rd. Vinification: We destem the buches into small open fermenters with daily plunging through ferment before being pressed to tank. After settleing the juice was aged in varying aged French barriques. After ferment the wine was left on lees for 10 months with occasional stirring. Secondary, malolactic fermentation was late retaining the required dark fruit notes in the wine. The wine was prepared for bottling in March 2011 without fining and only minimal filtration to protect purity aand complexity. Alc/vol : 12.5%
Nepean Wines
Nepean Pinot Noir 2012
100% Mornington Peninsula Wines. Tasting Note: Very intense and precise pinot here with violet-like florals, sappy fresh forest aromas, muck, raspberry and spice - very taut and youthful, the oak is tucked in deep. The palate has superb richness and intensity, really ripples and fruit flavour and finely layered tannins - the structure is impeccable, really reminiscent of the Burgundian repertoire of power with elegance. Kong cherry fruit flavour and a lively cherry pip finish. Viticulture: A specific area of vines on The Napean Block was selected for this wine. Historically we have found this area has produced some amazing flavour profiles. We started the growing year with a light fertilizing and the natural rainfall was adequate. The vines had been cane pruned to 18 buds and trained to an open VSP canopy. No watering was necessary this season. A light summer pruning maintained the open canopy and bunch counts were restricted to one bunch per shoot e grapes were hand-picked relativelty early on March 4th vertualy the same as last year. Vinification: The grapes were destemmed and transfered to open fermenters without crushing and allowed to commence fermentation naturally with indigenous yeasts. It received a light handplunging during its 9-day maceration and was pressed to tank. It was racked off heavy lees after 48 hours settling to a selection on one& two year old French barriques for maturation over 11 months. Following racking to tank it was left to settle for a further 3 months before having a single light filtration prior to. Alc/vol : 13.5% bottling.
Nepean Chardonnay 2013
Tasting Note: This top-tier chardonnay is precise, intense and rippling with concentration and nerve. Fresh-cut new French oak offers aromas of grilled hazelnuts, vanillin and spice with nougat and ripe pears, grapefruit citrus and florals - very complex. The pal-ate has fine-etched acidity and savoury nutty barrel-fermenta- avours. A piercing and linear wine with restrained grape-fruit flavour, finishing crisp and mouth-wateringly fresh. Viticulture: This area of the Nepean Block was speciafically targeted for a reserve quality wine. The vines were cane pruned to produce no more than 18 shoots per vine. An open VSP canopy was carefully managed all through the damp growing season with some leaf-plucking on the southern side once the nets were put on after Christmas. No irrigating was used which promoted concentrated uptake of tannins. Bunch thinning, to one bunch per shoot was practised to further concentrate all available plant resources into the single bunch. Vinification: Whole bunches were top-loaded to the press without crushing or de-stemming and pressed to tank. After being left to settle for 24 hours the juice was fermented in varying aged French barriques. After ferment the wine was left on lees for 10 months with occasional stirring. Secondary, malolactic fermentation was stopped to retain the required citrus notes in the wine. The wine was prepared for bottling without fining and only minimal filtration to protect purity aand complexity. Alc/vol : 12.5%