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
Photo · Wikimedia Commons
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
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