Meet Nat White and his wife Rosalie. They are great Australian wine explorers who set out in the 1960s to discover wine and ended up founding a new world pinot noir dynasty on the Mornington Peninsula.
Like many young Australians Nat and Rosalie White travelled overseas in the mid-60s, basing themselves in London while they discovered a
They spend eight months travelling through Europe with a tent and a car and during that trip they discovered Burgundy and pinot noir.
“We arrived in Burgundy and liked the look of it,” says Nat. “It was the middle of winter and there weren’t many people around.”
He recalls arriving at a vineyard with a nice building which they thought looked “flash”. There was a smart lady at a desk in the office and they asked for a tasting, not realising that access, especially during the off-season, was unheard of. Luckily one of the winemakers “liked the look of Rosalie” and took them down to the winery for some barrel tasting.
“It inspired us,” Nat says. “We thought it was terrific.”
The seed was sown and almost 10 years later Nat, a civil engineer, and Rosalie, a teacher, bought a cheap block on the Mornington Peninsula and started planting their vines. Nat says the local orchardists laughed at them when they started planting grapes on their three hectare block. The block had no road access at that time and they carried their young children, shovels and vines through the neighbouring orchards each weekend. “It was a huge amount of work and it was all hand planted,” he says.
One of the reasons they chose the Peninsula says Nat, was that they lived in Mt Eliza and it was easy to get to on the weekends. Their “cheap” block turned out to be ideal for growing pinot noir with its well sheltered north facing slopes.
“There’s a large element of luck in it, but when we came back from travelling Europe we could see the climate was similar,” he says.
Perhaps one of the most charming elements of Main Ridge is Nat and Rosalie’s enthusiasm and encouragement of young winemakers in the region. They have seen the surrounding apple orchards removed and a thriving industry of growers and winemakers develop around their small planting. They have been instrumental in nurturing newcomers to the region and developing the thriving winemaking community.
Main Ridge Estate hasn’t grown beyond its original boundaries despite acclaim for its wines, especially the Half Acre Pinot which continually receives acclaim from wine writers. Nat says the aim has always been to produce wine only from grapes grown on the site and to make the highest possible quality wine by encouraging low yields and using traditional winemaking techniques.
Access to the cellar door from a narrow gravel road has kept the larger organised tours away and only adds to the charm for those who seek out one of the best cellar door experiences on the Mornington Peninsula.
For more information:
· Main Ridge Estate – a history lesson in Mornington Peninsula winemaking
· Mornington Peninsula – plan a trip to discover great food and wine
· VisitVineyards.com – the best of wine and food country
