2023 Intrinsic Chardonnay

Every year its such a pleasure to release the Intrinsic Chardonnay, like its predecessor, 2023 was also a very demanding growing season, we managed to keep on top of the challenging weather at each growth stage all the way up until nearly christmas when the weather finally settled into gear giving our site a beautiful finish,  so many hours were spent keep the vines in pristine condition & I feel like this attention to detail strongly reflects in the wine. This is definitely one for enjoying right now but also one for the ages, a long youthful life ahead.

Nourished volcanic grey loam soils over weathered basalt sit on a high plateau at 430m altitude, this block of chardonnay was established in 1991 with Clone I10V5. Farmed with strict organic practices using a mix of regenerative cover crops increasing soil health & productivity in the vineyard, its been an absolute delight seeing the site react to all the thoughtful inputs, walking through the rows & feeling like the soil is alive with energy under foot transcending directly into each vine & the surrounds.

Harvested 6/4/23, whole bunch pressed, fermented with our naturally occurring indigenous yeasts in 300L hogs heads using a mix Siruge (French) & Stockinger (Austrian) cooperages, during élevage there is absolutely no racking, left on full solids with no interference with the lees, the wine always goes through full malolactic fermentation on its own, a small amount of sulphur post malo, racked from barrel to stainless tank where its left to rest for another full winter to gain complexity & naturally settle prior to bottling, no fining or filtering.

Our new chardonnay plantings across the domaine (clones Bernard 76 & some Penfolds 58) have been thriving over this growing season, with warmer than average temperatures. It’s quite amazing to see these new vineyard blocks taking shape on the estate after all these years, hopefully next year we might see our first crop.

The Wine Front Review by Mike Bennie

Posted on 21 June 2025

'Intrinsic to the excellence of Eastern Peake, no doubt.

This is a richer, opulent expression, and I think through recent chardonnay tastings and know that its bandwidth and tempo will be skittled in line ups for those with more filigree, tension and pace. That being said, merit here for concentration of fruit flavour, softness and beautiful, gently palate-staining flow, the harmony of honey butter, hazy, green apple juice, peachy notes, nougat, briny minerality and light toffee characters. By no means developing beyond its years, just relaxed and beautifully, neatly old fashioned in its way. A dapper chardonnay.'

95 Points

2023 Griffins Road Chardonnay

In the early 90s my father Norman convinced two of our friends & close neighbours to plant vines for him, Frank Walsh & Pat Griffin both planted Pinot Noir in 1995 on their excellent sites in our little township of Coghills Creek. Pat also wanted plant Chardonnay with his Pinot Noir, a very wise choice!

Pat Griffin’s vineyard is on Griffins Road next to Griffins Hill, one of the original farming families of the township, another interesting fact is the vineyard was planted right near the original Myola vineyard which was planted back in 1862 by Mr John Hawkins a site that grew to 11 acres by 1880 narrowing it down to 3 varieties, a very passionate farmer who also had quite an extensive orchard. (he was a correspondent for The Leader news paper in Melbourne retiring to Malvern in 1887. Died 1908 Buried in Coghills Creek.) The Griffins took on the vineyard, orchard & land & continued John’s legacy, nobody can remember what happened to the vineyard most likely the vines were pulled in the depression or it might have been possible that phylloxera made its way to the area.

So back to the return of Griffins Road Chardonnay, last produced back the Early 2000s for Eastern Peake. Pat died from a heat attack in the early 2000s which saw a change of ownership for 15 years until recently a new young farming family purchased the site for the land & gave me a call about taking on the vineyard. We agreed to a long term lease which has given us the opportunity to take this site back under our wing. instantly converting the site over to organic & regenerative agriculture practices. Deep red volcanic loam soils moving to grey & chocolate over weathered basalt sit on the south west side of Griffins Hill at 440m altitude, this block of chardonnay was established in 1995 with Clone I10V5.

Produced the same way as always, Harvested 6/4/2023, whole bunch pressed, fermented with the vineyard & cellars naturally occurring indigenous yeasts in 300L hogs heads using a mix Siruge (French) & Stockinger (Austrian) cooperages, during élevage there is absolutely no racking, left on full solids with no interference with the lees, the wine always goes through full malolactic fermentation on its own, a small amount of sulphur post malo in December, racked from barrel 21/3/2023 to stainless tank no fining or filtering, bottled 20/10/2023 A small amount of sulphur pre estate bottling. I can’t express any louder how excited I am to be farming & producing wine from this site, now three vintages in under our custodianship this site has so much to give & the wine being produced is something very special.

The Wine Front Review by Mike Bennie

Posted on 21 June 2025

'Griffins are not just the lion-eagle beast but also New Zealand’s top flight biscuit selection.

Quite rich and round, soft and supple, perhaps teetering into too much honey, truffle, fig and toffee territory at this stage, but for those on the prowl for potency from chardonnay, and perhaps some early access to development, then this is a good deal. In all that, appealing slickness to texture and a twist of freshness to finish. The concentration of flavour is great too. The savoury elements a charm. Good here.'

93 Points

2023 Two Mile Hill Chardonnay

The 2023 Two Mile Hill Chardonnay is a product of Karel Schaefer's passion for the variety, a conversation started back in 2015 about planting some vines to satisfy the thirst. Karel & Family planted their first vines at Two Mile Hill in 2017 under our guidance, the site is on a 4 acre block with 3 different soil types & 3 varieties. The Chardonnay is planted on rich red volcanic soil with a south slightly west facing slope (clone i10V5) Its a very pretty block of chardonnay, this is the second vintage produced from Two Mile Hill located 7km form Eastern Peake from which you can still see our vineyard & seems to be one/two weeks earlier than us with flowering & harvest dates. Farming is shared between Karel & ourselves under our guidance.

Thoughtful, relaxed & comfortable winemaking is applied here, same as all my chardonnay cuvées, whole bunch pressed, fermented with the vineyard & cellars naturally occurring indigenous yeasts in 300L hogs heads using a mix Siruge (French) & Stockinger (Austrian) cooperages, during élevage there is absolutely no racking, left on full solids with no interference with the lees, the wine always goes through full malolactic fermentation on its own, a small amount of sulphur post malo in December, racked from barrel to stainless tank where its left to rest for another full winter to gain complexity & naturally settle prior to bottling, no fining or filtering.

This beautiful site is really showing what its all about straight from the get go, a string of 5 vintages showing how bright the future is ahead for the wine coming off here. Having planted new chardonnay vines at Eastern Peake the anticipation is so high to see what happens with our young vines due to produced their 1st crop hopefully next year.

The Wine Front Review by Mike Bennie

Posted on 21 June 2025

'I noted in the text (huge detail, as always, laminated and stuck to bottles) from winemaker Owen Latta, a reference to rich, red volcanic soils, and the wine feels of mineral and generosity.

Chalky succulence, sweet, stone fruit and appley characters, light manzanilla notes, toasty, salted cashew and faint, Japanese ginger tones with nougat dashed with cinnamon through the lot. It’s opulent in a way, broad and spreads well in the palate, a clatter of limey acidity lifts things, though you’d say the wine is a little lazy and ponderous if being lyrical. Then again, it sits well for me, lots of flavour and character on hand. I like these slower, sticky chardonnays.'

94 Points

2023 Taché

Here it is, a wine that probably doesn’t need much of an introduction the Eastern Peake 2023 Taché, Pinot Noir Rosé.

A wine we love to produce year on year in small quantities from select parcels of fruit from the vineyard. Each harvest is whole bunch pressed, indigenous yeasts, fermentation & élevage in stainless on full lees for about 16 months. No fining, filtering or tinkering. Thoughtfully produced to reflect on where it's grown. The Vintage of 2023 did have its challenges early on in the vineyard, a long cooler year meant the season ended up being more prolonged than usual which has produced a such a complex fine rosé for its 29th release.

In 1995 Norm Latta first started out to make his own wine from our own grapes grown at Eastern Peake. Di & Norm had been successfully growing pinot noir for Trevor Mast (Mt Langi Ghiran) since 1983. The decision was made to go out on their own to establish Eastern Peake as a iconic Pinot Noir & Chardonnay producer in Australia. Trevor mentioned that Norm should make a rosé from the Pinot Noir so he could have two wines to sell whilst the chardonnay was coming online (Planted 1991&1993). Legend has it he gave them a bottle of Domaine Tempier rosé & said make something like this.. (nothing new now due to its accessibility but at the time this was one of those moments we're you were going to be well ahead of the curve)

The first vintage of rosé in 1995 fermented in stainless steel left to rest on lees, bottled in november ready for the festive season. The Pinot Rosé was very well received because it was dry, savory and refreshing -very unusual for the time as there weren't many out there in this refreshing style. (Also one to remember that Pinot Noir in the early-mid 90s was like an alternative variety, not that many people were growing it, let alone making rose from it.) From 2008 onwards I have been leaving the wine longer on lees to gain more texture & complexity. some years it remains on its full lees for up to 16 months elevagé in stainless steel before going to bottle with minimal SO2.

In Australia I guess you could say there are not many producers who have been making serious rosé from the same site from the same singular variety continuously for nearly 25 years... we've seen it all, trends come and go, sticking to our guns to always produce something that reflects the place & refreshing to drink. It seems now that rosé is now the perfect staple in the Australian wine landscape.

2023 Two Mile Hill Pinot Noir

Karel Schaefer & Family planted their first vines at Two Mile Hill in November 2017, it’s a 4.5 acre site with 3 different soil types & 3 varieties sitting 380m in elevation. The Pinot Noir is planted on weathered basalt chocolate brown volcanic soil, established on the flat base of the hill with no slope, this is the second vintage produced from Two Mile Hill, It’s located 7km from Eastern Peake from which you can still see our vineyard & seems to be one/two weeks earlier than us with flowering & harvest dates. Farming is shared between Karel & us under our guidance. Harvested on 28/3/2023, destemmed using no pumps into a small open top fermenter, spontaneous fermentation indigenous yeast, pump overs twice daily, basket pressed 9/4/2023, transferred into 228L barriques, topped monthly, sulphur added post malo in November, racked from barrels in late march 2024 to stainless tank where its left to enjoy another full winter to gain complexity & naturally settle prior to bottling, no fining or filtering.

2023 Coghills Creek Pinot Noir

This wine is our new "Introductory Wine" due to the such small supply of fruit we have from the Eastern Peake site. This is a section of barrels from the 4 different blocks of pinot noir (Eastern Peake, Walsh Block, Two Mile Hill & Griffins Road). These vineyards are all walking distance from each other all connected via the Coghills Creek catchment & in view of the Eastern Peake of Mount Bolton.

2023 provided some excellent Pinot Noir fruit for us, it was challenge to farm early on in the season. Fermented naturally in 3000L wax lined open concrete vats, each block was basket pressed separately, 12 months élevage separately in 228L barriques (20% new), selected barrels from all the blocks were assembled, no fining or filtering, bottled 6 months after racking from barrel. A small amount of sulphur post malo & pre bottling.

The Wine Front Review by Mike Bennie

Posted on 21 June 2025

'A barrel selection of four blocks. A village wine, per se, as all the vines are in the Coghills Creek parish.

Slurpy and yet crisp, all the tart cherry juice, blood orange, a light, apple juicy note in there, some rose water and rose hip tea, shiitake mushroom savouriness and dashes of clove. Lighter weight in style, feels pure and pretty, a little hazy and silty in texture in a most pleasing sense, and good extension of flavour into freshness and vibrancy of red fruit and spice. Such a lovely, delicate wine. Classy too.'

93 Points

2023 Intrinsic Pinot Noir

Intrinsic Pinot Noir, the pulse of Eastern Peake! Now with vine material ranging from 40 years to 30 yrs from our 3  beautiful established Pinot Noir Blocks on the Estate. Its our single vineyard wine we produce year on year representing exactly what we do capturing each season in a glass. All original MV6 clone grown on well looked after Volcanic grey loam soils over weathered basalt sitting at 430m alt, thoughtfully farmed with strict organic practices & a mix of regenerative agriculture inputs such as rotating cover crops to help with keeping our soils in such pristine condition, flowering was very good considering how extreme the weather was during season 2023. Everything went to plan in the vineyard with our organic practice, the season definitely kept us on our toes along the way with the unpredictable weather presenting a much cooler than expected year that really helped build up amazing flavour profiles & structure in the berries.

Blocks harvested from the 7th - 13rd of April, all destemmed into our original 3000L concrete fermenters, as always spontaneous fermentation via our indigenous yeasts , pump overs once a day, vats are all basket pressed individually, blocks kept separate & transferred into 228L barriques of various French coopers (mostly Siruge & Dominique Laurent 30% new), topped monthly, sulphur added post malo in November, racked from barrels in late march 2024 to stainless tank where its left to enjoy another full winter to gain complexity & naturally settle prior to bottling, no fining or filtering.

This wine is drinking exceptionally well right now but one that will definitely cellar for 20-30 years or more with ease! We do hold back vintages of Eastern Peake Intrinsic Pinot Noir from every year to reflect on, look out for a a back vintage release later in the year.

Due to the increasing demand for our Pinot Noirs we’ve also planted a new small block of Pinot Noir with clones 115 & our own vine material from block ‘1989’ (Morillon Clone Pinot Noir vine material sourced from Best’s original Pinot Noir vineyard a Swiss clone), the block is slightly more elevated than the rest of the estate same soil & aspect. Ive always wanted to work with some 115 on the estate feeling that it would complement our MV6 perfectly looking forward to keeping everyone informed on the progress of this.

The Wine Front Review by Mike Bennie

Posted on 21 June 2025

‘The pulse of Eastern Peake!’, cries the laminated (no longer contact papered) notes. Eastern Peake is growing up after forty years. From three blocks on the home vineyard, aged thirty to forty years. All the finery.

Beautiful. Red berry fruitiness, game meat, truffle, dried leaves, undergrowth, brambles, pepper, blood orange, green olive. Magic. Harmonious and delicate, pure and lithe. A finery and gilt nature to the wine, a shine and lift, a tension and succulence. It feels fancy from first sniff and doesn’t let up. Offering pinot lovers access to fruit and savouriness, vineyard verity, seasonal characteristics of coolness and paler, delicate nature. Big swirls in a glass and more and more comes up, the information expanding as the wine continues. Magic.'

96 Points

2023 'Mount Block' Pinot Noir

This block of pinot noir was established in 1994, I still remember sitting with dad on the old very noisy Leyand 245 tractor working up the soil in the autumn of 1993 as young little tacker being fascinated with the process, the aroma of the newly ploughed soil, the hidden artefacts beneath the surface coming to light from settlers of the past. I was very intrigued to see how these vines would grow in this new patch of dirt that was slightly different to the other plantings, the block sits at the back of the property with a wonderful view of Mount Boltons Eastern Peake to the west of it. 2012 & 2016 were the only single bottling of this cuveé its so great to have it back again. Normally this wine is the major component of the Intrinsic Pinot Noir, I really wanted to keep a few barrels seperate as it had been a while since a single vineyard wine was produced.

MV6 clone grown on well looked after Volcanic grey loam soils over weathered basalt sitting at 430m alt, thoughtfully farmed with strict organic practices & a mix of regenerative agriculture inputs such as rotating cover crops to help with keeping our soils in such pristine condition, flowering was very good considering how extreme the weather was during season 2023. Everything went to plan in the vineyard with our organic practice, the season definitely kept us on our toes along the way with the unpredictable weather presenting a much cooler than expected year that really helped build up amazing flavour profiles & structure in the berries.

Harvested on the 7th & 13th of April, all destemmed into our original 3000L concrete fermenters, as always spontaneous fermentation via our indigenous yeasts , pump overs once a day, basket pressed on the 14/4, kept separate & transferred into 228L barriques of various French coopers (mostly Siruge & Dominique Laurent 30% new), topped monthly, sulphur added post malo in November, racked from barrels in late march 2024 to stainless tank where its left to enjoy another full winter to gain complexity & naturally settle prior to bottling, no fining or filtering.

The Wine Front Review by Mike Bennie

Posted on 21 June 2025

'From a block established 1994, and only twice (2012 and 2016) has it been released as a single block wine.

A firm, tense and brightly lit wine. Set to red cherry, raspberry, cranberry with touches of bay leaf, lantana, dried mixed peel and pepper going on. Quite the chiseled, textural feel, appealing in that way and you’d say precise too. It feels quite vin de garde, a wine that is leaner and firmer than expected now, not without pleasure, but apt for long, longer term cellaring and getting the truffle, savoury, earthen aspects to coincide with drinking. An excellent wine for that, and great to see.'

94+ Points