It’s a Vineyard · Retreat located at the top of Bittern-Dromana Rd, Merricks North. Their valley rolls steeply to the north, chocolate loam soaks up sunshine warmth.

We took command of their vineyard at the beginning of their first season in 2012. Our winemaking moves in sync with our viticulture and we take great pleasure in the quality evolution.

Tussie Mussie Retreat is worth investigating on their website if you seek somewhere special to stay or hold an event.

777 is a modern clone with heavy hanging bunches. The advantage of big bunches is they lionise the vines’ vascular system feeding into tannin and flavour production, and we strictly control the crop size to secure power and concentration.

2017 vintage was picked on March 17 & 19. The first batch fermented at temperatures that extract colour & structure (max 35 degrees) and the next batch cold soaked and fermented to lure nuance.

We weren’t sure how to rate when both cuvees were excellent, and the final blend proved a winemaking axiom of 1+1=3 when dealing with two batches of wine from the same superior vineyard.

We followed both cuvees throughout their development and whilst the classic hot ferment provided baritone, the cold ferment kept that nuanced aromatic profile. We call this component winemaking. The final blend of both proved the winemaking axiom of 1+1=3 with each portion fitting into each other.

Tussie Mussie Vineyard Pinot Noir is only the free run portion of the must; wine is matured in new and old barrels in our cool cellar for a full 12 months before bottling. We rack the wine off lees in July to keep the vibrant. Final blend in September 2017, bottled in May 2018.