The 2023 Elanto Vineyard Pinot Noir is the inaugural Pinot Noir release from Balnarring on the Mornington Peninsula, and the wine that put this vineyard on the map. It is a blend of five separately farmed plots, Vertex, Ironstone, Chicory, Kilnside and Basalt, each picked and vinified on its own before the final assembly.
Elanto was established in 2018 by Elizabeth and Tony Todaro with winemaker Sandro Mosele, whose earlier work at Kooyong and Port Phillip Estate shaped much of the modern Mornington Peninsula. The 10.6-hectare site is planted at 11,111 vines per hectare, roughly four times the Australian norm and a density more familiar in Burgundy. Vines stand seventy-five centimetres apart, forcing the roots to compete and drive down into the basalt and ironstone beneath, and each vine carries only three to five hundred grams of fruit. Farming is organic, the aspect is south-easterly, and cool air off Western Port Bay preserves natural acidity. Halliday named Elanto its Best New Winery after these debut releases.
The fruit was chilled, sorted and destemmed into concrete vats with a small proportion of whole bunches, around three to five percent. A cold soak preceded natural fermentation, which finished in vat before pressing after twenty-five to thirty days on skins. The wine was raised in a mix of new and older French oak barriques, completed malolactic conversion in late spring, and spent a total of eleven months in barrel before bottling.
The perfume is bright and lifted, with wild strawberry, red cherry and raspberry over rose petal, violet and gentle spice. Forest floor, dried herbs, tea leaf and crushed stone emerge with air. The palate is medium-bodied and seamless, carrying red berry and cranberry on fine-grained tannins with vibrant acidity and a mineral backbone. Length comes from precision rather than weight, closing long and savoury.
Ben’s Recommendation:
At Wine More Cellars, this is the release to try if you want to understand where Elanto started. Against richer, more fruit-driven Australian Pinot, it offers more savoury complexity, aromatic lift and tannin definition, a direct result of the vineyard’s density. Drink now or cellar for another six to ten years. Excellent with duck breast, roast chicken, mushroom risotto, grilled salmon, charcuterie or truffle dishes.
