Gourmet Traveller – Best Cellar Door

Star Cellar Door, Mornington Peninsula

“While the view from the restaurant’s cinemascope-size window suggests you are hovering above what must be some of the best-tended vines on the Peninsula, rest assured it is the food as well as the view that provide the most lasting impression of a meal here. These and the wines of winemaker and founder, Lindsay McCall.

Paringa Estate’s best is on display, whether it is the centimetre-perfect vertical lines of vines, the delicious Flinders Island milk-fed lamb, or a bevy of commanding, uncompromising white and red wines led by shiraz, pinot noir and chardonnay.

Shiraz, really? Where some Peninsula winemakers once considered the region too cool to grow shiraz successfully, McCall marched on regardless and has proven that the area can indeed produce some excellent, re-blooded examples. The amount of bling the wine has garnered in wine show medals, and attentions received from the wine press, tells the story. As does the number of Peninsula winemakers now embracing the grape.

For many drinkers, however, it is pinot noir that inspires the greatest enthusiasm. The winemaker believes that as the vines age (now in their third decade) the wines are getting more mature and more complex. No-one is arguing with this. Try both the Estate Pinot Noir and flagship, Single Vineyard Pinot Noir.” Jeni Port