Sorrento Sunset 7:27 PM Case 02 is open · Play
Spring Insider · October 2026 Spring 2026
A local point of view.
A Peninsula worth knowing.
PlayWhere in the Peninsula is PI?
She’s out again.
Case 02: Took the long way to dinner. Ask the locals, read the land, find her before sunset. Find her and go in the draw for $250 to dine at Doot Doot Doot, Jackalope.
Free to play, no account.
Mike Aylward's precise, minimal cellar door turning out some of the Peninsula's most quietly obsessive pinot noir.
Known for Halliday Top 100 WineryVerve Pinot NoirMike Aylward Single-Vineyard ProgramMornington Peninsula Pinot Trophy
Why we’d goMike Aylward grew up in Peninsula wine, his family founded Kooyong, and Ocean Eight is what he built when he decided smaller and more single-minded was the right call.
Ocean Eight is the kind of cellar door that wine people send other wine people to and casual tasters sometimes overlook. That's a mistake. Mike Aylward grew up in Peninsula wine country, his family founded Kooyong, and Ocean Eight was the project he built when he decided he wanted to do something smaller, quieter, and more single-minded than the big names allow.
The Verve and Aylward Pinot Noirs are among the most structured and ageable wines being made on the Peninsula. The chardonnay holds its own against the region's benchmarks. The tasting room is minimal and unpretentious: you sit down, the wines come out, and Mike or one of the family walks you through them without any of the theatre that creeps into larger cellar doors.
Book ahead, they keep numbers deliberately small. This is a tasting for people who want to understand why the Peninsula matters.
Worth knowing
If you only do one thing
Book ahead and ask to taste the Aylward Pinot Noir alongside the Verve, the two together explain the whole program.
Works well with
Allis Wine Bar · Main Ridge Dairy
Filed under Cellar DoorSlowViewAll YearCouplesSoloLocals
Editor's verdict
Ocean Eight is the kind of place the Peninsula used to be full of: a small family estate run by the people who planted the vines, making wine that prioritises food-pairing honesty over points-chasing spectacle. The Verve Chardonnay and Aylward Reserve Pinot Noir are better than most visitors expect. No restaurant, but dogs are welcome and the garden is set up for picnics.
Walk-ins welcome Fri–Sat 12pm–5pm, Sun 12pm–3pm. Barrel tastings available by appointment. BYO picnic food welcome in the garden. Dogs welcome on leash.
Key varieties: Pinot Noir, Chardonnay, Pinot Gris.
Worth seeking out: Verve Chardonnay.
Walk-ins welcome Friday–Saturday 12pm–5pm, Sunday 12pm–3pm. Barrel tastings available by appointment.
No restaurant on-site. Visitors are welcome to bring their own picnic food to enjoy in the gardens.
Confirmed yes - dogs are welcome on a leash in the outdoor garden areas.
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