Roving Sommelier is passionate about premium quality Australian regional wines. Kooyong first came onto my wine radar back in the early 2000s when I was working as head sommelier at Fifth Floor at Harvey Nichols in Knightsbridge, London. At the time, the head winemaker at Kooyong was Sandro Mosele and I met him when he visited us, and I tasted their wines for the first time.

Being a lover of top-notch Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, I loved Kooyong wines ever since that moment and when their wines passed my lips. What’s more, I was also beginning to understand why Mornington Peninsula was starting to be regarded as an excellent, up-and-coming location for expressive cool climate wines from unique terroirs and vineyard sites, especially for Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, inspired by Burgundy. Although the winemaker has changed, the baton has now been passed onto Glen Hayley, I have followed Kooyong, as well as other Mornington Peninsula vineyards for many years.

The Kooyong vineyard is located on the Mornington Peninsula at Tuerong, on Miocene sedimentary soils. The wines are made from domain grown, handpicked grapes and aim to manifest terroir: the integration of our geology and soils with the macroclimate of our region, the individual microclimates of the various sites within our vineyard and the weather of the annual grape growing season. The cultural operations in the vineyard and practices in the winery endeavour to articulate these unique characteristics diligently, respectfully and without artifice. Kooyong Clonale is a blend of Chardonnay from the Tuerong and Balnarring vineyards.

The grapes are gently whole bunch pressed directly into French oak barriques (7% new) where fermentation commences spontaneously with ambient yeasts. After fermentation, the wine is aged on lees (without ‘battonage’) for nine months. It is bottled without fining and with minimal filtration.

For me, I have always considered Clonale Chardonnay to be Kooyong’s answer to Chablis. Pure, expressive, and elegant, displaying citrus and mineral notes, balanced with mouth-watering acidity and freshness. Best enjoyed served chilled and in a convivial atmosphere.