The rugged coastline where Victoria meets the Southern Ocean is one of these spots. Antarctic winds from across the Bass Strait temper the bright sun and make for an incredible alchemy of terroir. The Pinot Coast, running from the end of the Great Ocean Road to the southeastern corner of Australia, is truly a leader in cool, maritime pinot noir.

The terroir here is diverse, covering windy hillsides and sheltered valleys. The wines produced along the trail share this diversity, ranging from bright, fruit-driven pinot noir to more earthy, savoury examples. One thing the wines do have in common is a fresh, layered complexity – the spirit of the Southern Ocean in vinous form.

The cool climate along the trail comes from the Southern Ocean, as it flows through Bass Strait. The moderate temperatures along the coast are perfect for ripening grapes and lead to pristine, layered wines. The cool air allows the grapes to maintain acidity while developing complexity and varietal character.

“It’s that sort of Indian summer that runs from February through to April. It’s usually very dry, with moderate days, which all results in great natural acidity in the grapes and also the wines,” says Martin Spedding of Mornington Peninsula’s Ten Minutes by Tractor. “That natural acidity and the balance of the wines that are produced makes it very special.”

The three regions (Geelong, the Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland) that make up the Pinot Coast wine trail each produce a distinct style of cool-climate pinot noir. Geelong pinot noirs are seductive wines with an inherent generosity and tannin structure. In the Mornington Peninsula, the wines find a balance between fresh, fruit-forward approachability and earthy complexity – they’re lifted aromatically and have a savoury structure. In Gippsland, the region’s sheer size makes defining a distinctive style almost impossible. However, typically Gippsland pinot noirs have wonderful fruit depth, from brighter red fruits to a darker, more brooding fruit spectrum – always with balanced and fine tannins.

The Mornington Peninsula, on the eastern side of Port Phillip Bay, is surrounded on three sides by water – Port Phillip Bay to the north, Western Port Bay to the east, and Bass Strait on its southern edge. “We are a small, narrow peninsula so we are just about all coast,” says Kate McIntyre, marketing manager at the peninsula’s Moorooduc Estate.

The vineyards that pepper the Mornington Peninsula are nestled in sheltered valleys, never more than 7km from the coast. The topography and soil types across the region are diverse, but this ensures an exciting array of different expressions.

At Moorooduc Estate, there are three vineyards, each contributing a slightly different expression of pinot noir, showing off just how much variation there is.

“The different combinations of soil type, aspect, elevation and exposure to the cooling winds and rains that travel in narrow bands across the region, create unique conditions in different vineyards that allow the quality of pinot noir to shine through, while the individuality of each site can also have a strong voice,” says McIntyre. “The wines from around Moorooduc often have firmer structure, and more tannins than their southern neighbours, but they always share the perfume, vibrancy and crunchy, refreshing acidity of all the pinots of the Mornington Peninsula.”

On the other side of the bay, Geelong has a long history of making good wines. The Bellarine Peninsula juts eastward from the city, nearly touching the end of the Mornington Peninsula. The ocean is inescapable on the thin stretch of land, where Port Phillip Bay and Bass Strait are only about 15km apart.

Leura Park Estate is at the heart of the Bellarine Peninsula, and enjoys the cool climate that is ideal for winegrowing. Vines are planted on north-facing slopes, where all-day sun and free-draining soils make beautifully balanced wines.

David and Lyndsay Sharp established the winery in 1995. “Geelong and the Bellarine is a truly magical region. We were drawn to it as a location to live and work,” says Lyndsay. “Pinot noirs from our region are medium-bodied, elegant, complex, pretty and poised.” 

Geelong’s vineyards stretch inland, and in particular into the Moorabool Valley, about 20km northwest of the city. The climate is a little more sheltered here, although the maritime influence is still strong. Bannockburn Vineyards has been in the valley since the 1970s, when Stuart Hooper went looking for a site where he could make Australian wines in the style of his favourite Burgundy.

Winemaker Matt Holmes cites the limestone soils in the valley as key in Bannockburn’s wines. “We have a unique expression of pinot noir, mostly derived from the limestone soils. Our wines are not tannic, but they always have density and are typically very age-worthy,” he says.

Meanwhile, in Gippsland the influence of the coast unites wine producers across a huge area of land. Tom Lightfoot’s East Gippsland pinot noirs are quite different to those made in other parts of the region. The Lightfoot & Sons vineyard, which sits on a spectacular cliffside overlooking the Mitchell River, was chosen for its unique terra rossa soils over limestone, as well as its proximity to the ocean.

“The combination of the soil with the moderating effect of the ocean that keeps the site cool with cool nights, makes for a slow ripening period, which then produces really full-flavoured wines,” says Lightfoot. “The main difference that pinots from here (and most East Gippsland wineries) have is a much more savoury, earthy characteristic to the wine.”

The soils are also important in South Gippsland – so much so that Marcus Satchell named his wine after them. Dirty Three Wines is based in the coastal town of Inverloch, and makes wines from specific sites in the surrounding countryside. The difference in soils across the three sites – from rich, fertile volcanic soils to a more free-draining sandy loam – makes for distinctive characteristics in the wines.

But there is no denying the influence of the Southern Ocean in Gippsland wines. “First and foremost, it is the climate,” says Satchell, when asked what makes Gippsland so well-suited to making pinot noir. “The high rainfall coupled with the cold winds driving off Bass Strait help to keep the temperatures cool during the growing season, which is really important for pinot noir – an early-ripening variety,” he continues.

“The wines from here are elegant and perfumed, with a core of powerful fruit around the mid-palate. They are long flavoured and show layers of fruit, with a complex undergrowth or earthy character,” Satchell says.

Wines from along the Pinot Coast wine trail have been widely celebrated, winning numerous accolades and awards, and drawing the attention of wine lovers across the world. The trail’s diverse and exhilarating terroir with its cool, maritime climate and rolling hills and valleys – and the creative, wilful people who make these wines – can take all the credit.

As the name suggests, the Pinot Coast wine trail features cool, maritime pinot noir. The ocean moderates the temperature in the vineyards, and summers are long and mild and last well into April. The pinot noir grapes mature under these cool conditions, ensuring the retention of lots of delicate flavours, as well as acidity. The distinct landscapes mean there’s plenty of diversity in the wines made along the coast, in the trail’s three regions – Geelong, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland.

You’ll find the first of the Pinot Coast wine trail’s welcoming cellar doors and restaurants just over an hour’s drive south-west of Melbourne, in Geelong. The city, on the western side of Port Phillip Bay, is home to fresh seafood and – of course – outstanding wine.

At Lethbridge Wines’ cellar door in the Bellarine Peninsula, you’ll be welcomed to a large communal table with stories about the estate’s wines and how they are made. Ray Nadeson, the owner and winemaker, established the vineyard alongside Maree Collis and Adrian Thomas in the mid-1990s. Ray and Maree’s backgrounds in science led them to choose this particular site based on factors like soil composition and degree days, but the place exudes a spirit that is hard to quantify with scientific means.

Geelong doesn’t just do rustic and easygoing. On the Bellarine Peninsula, looking out over the mussel farms, Jack Rabbit’s cellar door and restaurant offers one of Victoria’s most spectacular dining experiences and shows off the region’s local, seasonal produce. On any given day, you might taste cuttlefish from Port Phillip Bay, goats’ cheese made in Bellarine, or beef from the surrounding countryside.

They know a lot about prestige just across the bay, on the Mornington Peninsula. This region is world famous for its layered, seductive pinot noirs with complex red fruits and lifted aromatics. But it’s not only the wine that makes the Mornington Peninsula such a gastronomic destination – the region has seven Chef Hat-awarded restaurants (Australia’s equivalent of a Michelin star) and many excellent cafes, breweries and local markets.

Winery Ten Minutes By Tractor is renowned for its award-winning restaurant, which is a pioneer of the peninsula’s culinary scene. “What we were wanting to do was sort of an extension of our cellar door, allowing people who came down and visited us to sit down and enjoy our wines with great food and great local produce, and to do it within our rural setting among the vines,” says Martin Spedding, the estate’s owner.

There are plenty of laid-back cellar door options around Mornington Peninsula. Up the road at Moorooduc Estate, you can grab a glass of wine and some of owner Jill McIntyre’s preserves, and, if you’re lucky, one of their relaxed Sunday lunches.

Gippsland is something else again. It’s a large region, stretching from Phillip Island to Wilsons Promontory and along to the Gippsland Lakes, but winemaking occurs on a tiny scale here.

Happily, it’s easy to weave cellar door experiences into trips to Gippsland, because there is so much to do along the coast. On Phillip Island, where the penguins make their nightly waddle ashore, Purple Hen Winery provides nature lovers with something to do while they wait for sunset. This is one of the most maritime vineyards on the whole of the Pinot Coast wine trail – it’s surrounded on three sides by water and the coast is a mere 500 metres away. You can enjoy views of the water and the vines from the cellar door as you taste the distinct coastal influence in the wines.

Along the Gippsland coast, you’ll find Waratah Hills near the entrance to Wilsons Promontory National Park. This vineyard is a little further inland than some of its counterparts, but the cooling maritime influences are still very much a part of the terroir here.

Neil and Judy Travers bought the vineyard in 2008 and have built a reputation for their seductive pinot noir. The cellar door is housed in an old tractor shed that has been updated into a modern tasting area and cafe in Waratah Hill’s charmingly bucolic setting. The food is as local as the wines – the cheese comes from Gippsland and there is a bountiful vegetable garden on site.

Despite the diversity of these cellar door offerings – and the wines themselves – you’ll find the same consistently high standard of hospitality across the Pinot Coast wine trail, in Geelong, Mornington Peninsula and Gippsland. Creative winemakers and artisans from around the region are keen to show off what they can craft from the exuberant spirit of the southern coast.

It was this pinot that brought Martin Spedding to the Mornington Peninsula. Since 2003, when he took over Ten Minutes by Tractor, Martin has been making award-winning pinot noir in the Mornington Peninsula’s beautiful, sheltered valleys. Ten Minutes by Tractor is one of the most famous wineries along the Pinot Coast wine trail, boasting a Chef Hatted (Australia’s equivalent of a Michelin star) restaurant with one of the best wine lists in Australia.

Spedding nearly didn’t make it to the coast. After spending two years looking for the perfect spot to grow cool-climate wines in Victoria, Tasmania and New Zealand, he found a site in the Yarra Valley with ties to the original St Huberts winery. But the night before he was due to sign the contract he got cold feet and backed out of the sale. “In the end, I felt it wasn’t quite the right site,” he says.

After a few weeks of feeling discouraged, Spedding’s wife Karen dragged him out of the house to go down to the Mornington Peninsula. The couple ended up at the Ten Minutes by Tractor cellar door. “It was a new winery and it had one or two vintages, and I went to the cellar door and started doing what I normally did, which was to ask a lot of questions,” he says. Martin discovered that the three families who owned the vineyard had decided that winegrowing was a little too much of a commitment and they were looking for a buyer.

“Ten days later it was all done,” he says. “I was on the rebound, so to speak.”

In 2006, before the Mornington Peninsula had become the culinary destination it is today, Ten Minutes by Tractor opened its restaurant. “What we were wanting to do was sort of an extension of our cellar door, allowing people who came down and visited us to sit down and enjoy our wines with great food and great local produce,” Spedding says.

The restaurant received its first Chef Hat in 2011 and then received two Chef Hats in 2013. It won a number of other awards, particularly for its extensive wine list that showcased old vintages, rarities and wonders from Mornington Peninsula and beyond.

In February 2018, a terrible fire on the property forced Spedding to close the restaurant. They have spent the last 18 months working on the rebuild and the new restaurant will have a major upgrade. “We’ve got a private dining area, expanded facilities and a new, fantastic kitchen,” Spedding says. “The silver lining is that it’s given us an opportunity to really think about providing a unique experience to people visiting the area.”

The Mornington Peninsula has been a great place to make wine for Spedding, who loves the balance of fruit and more savoury, earthy characters in the wines. “You get wines that are very alluring, with a beautiful broad complexity in the bouquet and, of course, that lovely natural acidity.” He credits the area’s natural topography and soils, and the cool, maritime influence from Port Phillip Bay, Western Port Bay and Bass Strait.

Spedding also loves the camaraderie among vintners on Mornington Peninsula. “We’re all small wine producers, family-owned and there’s a lot of collaboration. I suppose we’re all quite close friends. It makes it a great place to work and do what we do.”