With Musk Creek and Tussie Mussie, Campbell and Christine completes the trio of Quealy’s premier league, leased Mornington vineyards. This site was established by Doctors Campbell and Christine Penfold in 1994 and is mainly MV6 (while 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 at a very low 30 metres of elevation behind the Balnarring village, facing north on an exposed site with alluvial clay and red soils washed down from Red Hill. It’s a site that, as Tom McCarthy tells us, produces “gorgeous, small bunches of glossy Pinot Noir”.  

Cropped at less than two tonnes to the acre, only the free-run juice from the fermentation was settled and racked into 500-litre puncheons (roughly a quarter new). Unusually for this producer, McCarthy used a portion of whole-bunch this year—some 30% across two ferments—bringing extension and shape to the palate and adding some spice to the canvas of fleshy fruit. With its bright, crimson red colour and darkly-fruited and spicy nose, the 2019 Campbell and Christine simply leaps out of the glass. The palate is equally striking, with the whole-bunch element restraining the exuberant fruit while giving the wine the structure and backbone that would make it a great fit with game bird at the table, and also ensures a long life in the cellar.