Simply Wines

4.5 Star Winery Rating by James Halliday 2010

Maritime Estate in Red Hill on Victoria’s magnificent Mornington Peninsula, is a family owned vineyard established by brothers John and Kevin Ruljancich in 1993. The first vines were planted in 1988 and the vineyard, which was expanded in 1995, has now 12 acres of vines planted to Pinot Noir (60%), Chardonnay (24%) and Pinot Gris (16%).

The Ruljancich family, have been involved in the wine business for at least four generations dating back to the early 1800s, where John and Kevin’s great grandfather had vineyards on the tiny Dalmatian island of Vis, Croatia. In the warm but still maritime climate, the main grape variety was ‘Plavac Mali’ which is what we now know as Zinfandel or Primitivo. The Ruljancich family migrated to Australia in 1946 and while the Australian chapter of the wine business took until the 1990s, the vineyard on Vis was still being tended until the 1980s by John and Kevin’s uncle.
The philosophy of Maritime Estate Vineyard is to produce small parcels (approx. 1,000 cases per year) of extremely high quality wines, which express the varietal characteristics of the three grape varieties on offer. A particular attention is paid to Pinot Noir, as it is managed very carefully using the four clones (MV6, 114,115 and 777) and together with low yields and natural winemaking methods, produce wines which are a wonderful expression of this noble grape variety.
For the past 7 years, winemaker Sandro Mosele has been methodically heading up the winemaking responsibilities. Sandro has built a considerable reputation for producing high quality wines on the Mornington Peninsula, with countless awards along the way. The 2004 Maritime Estate Pinot Noir was awarded the Jane Hameury Trophy for the top Pinot Noir at the prestigious Le Concours des Vin du Victoria in 2005.
The management of the vineyard continues to be treated as a high priority. Matthew Frewer is the viticulturalist on the ground, caring & nurturing the vines to allow Sandro Mosele to produce wines of the highest quality. Matthew Frewer follows the great work of predecessor Dr Hugh Robinson, who was instrumental in building the estate to where it is today. Matthew is determined to continue with keeping yields low (1 – 1.5 tonnes per acre), ensuring a very high quality of grapes for Sandro to work with.
John Ruljancich passed away in 2007 but the vineyard continues on under the care of Kevin and John’s children Jane, Paul and Sally. More from this winery