The only blended Pinot in the range is drawn from all five of Quealy’s premium vineyards, from the lower-lying Campbell & Christine to the late-ripening Musk Creek Vineyard. Planted to different clones and with varying degrees of vine age, what binds these sites together is Quealy farming—led by viticulturist Will Byles, the estate manages every vine. All ferments were wild and spent an average of 25 days on skins. The batches matured in older barrels for 12 months before assembling and bottling.

2023 was the third low-yielding season in a row for Quealy, with crops down more than 50% in some sites. That said, the ripening season couldn’t have gone better. The fruit enjoyed a warm, lengthy autumn, so ripening was slow and even, and the resulting wine is concentrated and balanced. With the fruit selected for ripeness and gentle tannin, this is the estate’s most generous, early-drinking Pinot. It’s light, bright and lifted with lip-smacking, crunchy red fruits mixed with spice and sweet/savoury tang. Moreish stuff.

Musk Creek vineyard, perched atop Main Ridge and planted in 1997 by Kevin McCarthy and Kathleen Quealy, is considerably cooler and hence later-ripening than Quealy’s Tussie Mussie or Balnarring sites. As such, it’s a marginal place to ripen Pinot, and low yields are a must (along with plenty of canopy work). Sitting at 150 metres, these mature, dry-grown vines are rooted in the rich red soils of the region. The four-hectare site is planted to Pinot Noir (mostly MV6) and Gris in equal measure, with another hectare dedicated to Muscat Rouge à Petits Grains and Chardonnay.

As with the preceding vintage, the intense, low-yielding season warranted a more measured approach with bunches in the ferment. The low berry-to-stalk ratio didn’t warrant its use, so Tom destemmed all the fruit to better capture purity and precision. Fruit was harvested on 5th April and fermented over 28 days in small, two-tonne fermenters with minimal plunging and only light pressing. The wine rested on full lees in French hogsheads (25% new) for 13 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered. Elegant, savoury and complex, the quality of the vintage and site announces itself with finely pitched acidity and lengthy draw of suede tannins.

Organic. Now in its fifth year, KK01 has secured its position as a mainstay among Quealy’s fantastic range of Mornington Pinot Noirs. The fruit is sourced from two blocks of younger, dry-grown MV6 vines in Quealy’s certified-organic home vineyard in Balnarring. These vines, planted in 1994, are a stone's throw from the famed old-vine Seventeen Rows plot.

The aim for KK01 has always been to craft a delicious, earth-to-glass Pinot with immediate charm and appeal. Hence, there’s a strong carbonic element, little sulphur addition and no impact from new wood. The fruit was picked over two days at the end of March. It was destemmed and fermented as whole berries with no plunging. The wine was pressed after 27 days and matured in seasoned puncheons for 14 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

The nature of the vintage combined with Quealy’s organic practice means yields were paltry in 2023—even lower than in 2022. Though there may not be much of it, KK01 shines its brightest yet in 2023. A charming nose of red flowers and berries leads to a flowing, fleshy yet zesty palate with flecks of blood orange and amaro herbs. It’s clear these vines are hitting their straps.

With Musk Creek and Tussie Mussie, this site completes the trio of Quealy’s premier-league, leased Mornington Peninsula vineyards. Established by doctors Campbell and Christine Penfold in 1994, it mainly features the MV6 clone. Some 114 and 115 were also planted, taking advantage of the premium clones that became available around the same time. Located on the coastal plain, it sits just 30 metres above sea level behind Balnarring village. It’s a dry-grown, well-exposed, north-facing site with alluvial clay and red soils washed down from Red Hill. Tom McCarthy tells us it produces “gorgeous, small bunches of glossy Pinot Noir”. Stylistically, Campbell & Christine sits at the more concentrated, muscular end of the Pinot spectrum.

This site is famed for producing powerful fruit, and the paltry yields in 2023 have heightened this further. With that in mind, Tom took a mindful, gentle approach in the cellar. The fruit came off the vine in pristine condition on 23rd March and was destemmed to mostly small vats for fermentation, with a small portion fermented in barrel. The wine was pressed to barrel after 21 days for 14 months’ maturation in hogsheads, 25% of which were new. The wine was then bottled unfined and unfiltered in June 2024. This has serious flavour–juicy red fruits with some black cherry depth, earth, spice and a tea leaf/floral lift. It’s supple and seductive, with svelte structure and fine, fresh lines. Great length, too.