Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association Annual Report 2008 Mornington Peninsula Vignerons Association Annual Report 2008 Presidents Report Fellow Members, This will be my last report as President, as I will be stepping down at the upcoming AGM. Over the past 3 years I have also represented Mornington Peninsula on the Victorian Wine Industry Association (VWIA) and the State Governments Vintage 2010 Steering committee and Victorian Food and Wine Tourism Council. Although I have done my best to represent the interests of the MPVA, our region and Victoria in these forums they have also demanded a lot of my time. It has been a great honour to represent the MPVA and thank you for your support and encouragement. Looking back over the three years, I think that we have continued to make tremendous progress as a region and our reputation and profile continue to grow throughout Australia and overseas. Our wines demand attention wherever they are served and we are now home to some of the most exciting, sought after and respected wine brands in Australia. Jancis Robinson recently wrote in the influential Financial Times (16 February 2008); “…especially the Mornington Peninsula south of Melbourne with its high density of ambitious vine growers …. surely precisely the sort of region as to send a shiver down a French spine in that they fly in the face of the stereotype of Australian wine as being solely technical, big company product..” Attention is more and more being drawn to small producers and emerging wine regions that are focusing on their strengths and not attempting to be all things to all people. This is central to what consumers, restaurants and specialty wine stores are demanding. It is the emerging story, the next exciting chapter in the development of our wine culture. It is symbolised by a move away from the large, commercial and manufactured to the small, boutique and hand made. This is also the central theme to Wine Australia’s new marketing platform, inviting consumers from around the world to discover what lies beyond Shiraz, Riesling, Barossa, Coonawarra and the big company offerings that Australia has become famous for. This is where the emerging story of Australian Pinot Noir and cool climate Chardonnay is beginning to be heard and regions such as Mornington Peninsula have a once in a lifetime opportunity to firmly establish their credentials and carve out a unique place in the Australian wine story. There are 62 regions in Australia, so to be amongst the best known and recognised, regions such as ours must focus on their strength. For Mornington Peninsula, I strongly believe this must continue to be Pinot Noir. We do not have anything more significant to show or to invite consumers to explore than we do with Pinot Noir. Every effort and resource of the MPVA should be directed to promoting the Mornington Peninsula wine brand and its association with Pinot Noir. In our five year strategic plan we agreed to adopt the tag line; “Mornington Peninsula – Australian Pinot Noir”, which is now being used by the MPVA on all its collateral and advertising. This is something we should all embrace and promote. Domestic sales of Pinot Noir in Australia during 2007 were estimated to be 3.8 million litres, or 2.5% of the still red wine market. Although Shiraz and Cabernet dominate by volume (38.5% and 35% respectively), Pinot Noir is one of the most valuable and fastest growing categories (by value and volume) in the market. Together with the premium Chardonnay market, we are establishing a commanding position in two of the most valuable segments in the industry. As we did last year, an analysis of James Halliday’s latest Wine Companion for 2009 confirms that Mornington Peninsula continues to be a leader in the production of high quality Pinot Noir and Chardonnay, well beyond any other grape variety that we grow. A summary of the results of the 2009 Wine Companion is as follows: Pinot Noir Number of Number of wines that wines 3 Year rated at rated at Average Wines Mean greater greater Mean rated Score than 94pts than 90pts Score All regions 372 91.0 102 244 90.6 Mornington Peninsula 78 91.9 31 62 91.8 Tasmania 79 91.1 23 51 90.4 Yarra Valley 61 91.3 21 40 91.0 Geelong 35 90.4 7 21 90.5 Adelaide Hills 28 90.3 4 18 90.6 Gippsland 15 91.1 4 10 90.1 Macedon Ranges 11 92.0 4 8 91.2 Chardonnay Number of Number of wines wines 3 Year rated at rated at Average Wines Mean greater greater Mean rated Score than 94pts than 90pts Score All regions 659 90.6 166 403 90.5 Mornington Peninsula 57 92.1 27 48 92.3 Margret River 85 91.7 32 66 91.8 Yarra Valley 81 91.5 29 59 91.6 Hunter Valley 50 90.4 6 31 90.0 Adelaide Hills 44 91.6 17 33 91.7 Tasmania 35 89.9 6 18 90.4 McLaren Vale 27 88.9 3 6 88.8 These results demonstrate the quality of the wines being produced on the Mornington Peninsula and the potential that all producers have to access these highly valuable markets, something that is critical to all of us for our long term economic sustainability. Mornington Peninsula Myth busting Ever since Nat, Rosalie, Bails Myer and our early wine pioneers first established their vineyards in our region there has been no shortage of naysayers and critics who have volunteered their views on the prospects of our endeavours. There have been many myths that have been dispelled, one by one, over the past 35 years and some that unfortunately still persist today. They started with things like: • “The Peninsula is too cold to grow grapes”, • “Pinot Noir, its light pink wine for fairies” (The Age), • “Wines are too light and green” • “Should not do malos”, • “Using wild yeasts can only be done in France and Burgundy”, • “Wines are inconsistent, thin and weedy”, • “Peninsula wines are over priced”, • “Vineyards are damaging the environment”. What history has shown is despite the lack of information and experience of growing grapes and making wines in cool climates, incredible challenges were overcome. With the benefit of formal training, Nat White, Rick McIntyre and many others were able to understand the science and the risks whilst continuing to experiment and help establish what are today accepted norms for cool climate viticulture and winemaking. The challenge of producing high quality wines in cool climates is much greater than in warm climates. Much of what was known and was taught in the early years related to warm climate winemaking, for example; wild yeast ferments and malos were frowned upon because in warm climates they result in very different outcomes. Today we can look back on these myths and misconceptions and be satisfied that we have overcome most of them. Though, unbelievably, some still continue today, even within the past week I have had to respond to a local councillor who asked for a “definitive response” to the “scientific evidence or opinion” that he had that all Pinot Noir on the Peninsula would have to be pulled out in the next few years and be replanted with Cabernet Sauvignon, which to me sounded more like a personal objective than a genuine enquiry. Last year, in my report I addressed the myth surrounding the price and value of our wines. The analysis clearly demonstrated that Mornington’s average price for quality (per Halliday point) was significantly better than the rest of the market. Another myth busted! Consistency of Mornington Peninsula wine quality? This year I would like to deal with the myth that Mornington Peninsula wines lack consistency in quality. Maybe this criticism which we still hear from time to time is a hangover from the 1990s, a cool and wet decade and a time when there were many young vineyards and unresolved winemaking and viticultural techniques still being used. Still, how do we rate today? Consistency of wine quality within a region can be looked at in two ways; consistency between vintages and consistency between producers. Time and resources limit the extent to which we can explore this, however, using our analysis of James Halliday’s Wine Companion over the past 3 years we can look at both of these aspects. In terms of consistency between vintages, the following graphs show the average mean score for Mornington Pinot and Chardonnay over the past three years. Pinot Noir - Mean Score 93.0 92.5 92.0 91.5 91.0 90.5 90.0 89.5 89.0 88.5 88.0 2007 2008 2009 Mornington Peninsula Tasmania Yarra Valley Geelong Adelaide Hills Gippsland Macedon Ranges The 3 year average mean score for Mornington Peninsula Pinot Noir is the highest of any other region at 91.8 versus Macedon 91.2, Yarra Valley 91, Geelong 90.6 and Tasmania 90.5. It is difficult to believe that the 2007 and 2008 vintages will rate less well relative to other regions. Anecdotally, it is likely they may rate better again. In relation to Chardonnay mean scores have been: Chardonnay - Mean Score 93.0 92.0 91.0 90.0 89.0 88.0 87.0 2007 2008 2009 Mornington Peninsula Margaret River Yarra Valley Hunter Valley Adelaide Hills Tasmania McLaren Vale The 3 year average mean score of 92.3 for Mornington Peninsula Chardonnay is the highest of any other region (Margaret River 91.8, Adelaide Hills 91.7, Yarra Valley 91.6 and Tasmania 90.4).