The 2018 Moorooduc Estate The Moorooduc McIntyre Pinot Noir is a superb single-vineyard expression of Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir, and the Magnum format makes this an especially attractive cellar wine. The McIntyre Vineyard is Moorooduc Estate's original site, planted from 1983, and the best Pinot Noir from this vineyard is selected for the The Moorooduc single-vineyard bottling. The site is elevated, with sandy topsoil over clay, sand and gravel, including iron-rich clay deeper in the profile.
The 2018 vintage was particularly successful, producing generous fruit while retaining the balance and freshness that define Moorooduc's style. The estate has also moved towards earlier picking and less new oak over time; the 2018 single-vineyard wines used around 20% new French oak, allowing the vineyard character to remain prominent.
The bouquet is beautifully detailed, showing dark cherry, red cherry and satsuma plum, with violet, wild strawberry and exotic spice. With air, more savoury and mature notes emerge - liquorice root, cocoa, sage, rosemary, forest floor and cedar. The wine has a distinctly earthy, ferrous character that gives it real site personality.
On the palate, it is medium-bodied but remarkably concentrated, with generous dark cherry and red-fruit flavours supported by vibrant acidity and fine, granular tannins. There is a lovely combination of silky texture and savoury structure: the fruit is plush without being sweet or heavy, while the tannins provide a firm framework through the mid-palate. The 2018 McIntyre has been described as forceful and long, with the tannins acting as a restraint on its considerable fruit intensity.
The finish is long, savoury and persistent, with dark cherry, Asian spice, cedar, dried herbs and earthy mineral notes. At around eight years from vintage, the wine is beginning to develop the secondary complexity that makes mature Mornington Peninsula Pinot so compelling. Wine Enthusiast's assessment of the 2018 vintage highlighted its potpourri, dried red berries, crushed flowers, spice and autumnal earthiness, together with very fine tannins and lively acidity.
