Michael Zantvoort was only eight years old when his parents planted their first grapes. That means he grew up working in the vineyards that would become Stumpy Gully Vineyard.

“I never really stopped,” Michael says. Today he runs the Mornington Peninsula winery with his wife Liz, after a gradual, decade-long process of taking over the business from his parents, Dutch immigrants Frank and Wendy. “They’re still around a lot,” he says. “Mum’s always in the background if I need any advice. Every year we get some challenging vintages, and it’s good to bounce ideas off each other.”

Nestled in Mooroduc, about 50 minutes’ drive from Melbourne, Stumpy Gully takes its quirky name from the road on which that first 12-hectare vineyard was planted back in 1989. The business now encompasses three distinct blocks of vineyards, with the latter two planted in 1997 and 2010. Michael’s parents started by growing grapes for other companies before dabbling in winemaking themselves and trying out different labels.

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Best known for sauvignon blanc at the start, Stumpy Gully has since diversified its wines as peoples’ tastes have expanded over the years. Sauvignon blanc gave way to pinot grigio in popularity, and today the two best-selling wines are both pinot noirs. Thanks to the peninsula’s maritime climate, starkly different wines can thrive quite close together.

“It’s good to offer customers a diverse range,” says Michael, who’s proud of the winery’s humble beginnings and grassroots growth across three decades. “We grow and make everything here on site. We don’t buy any [grapes] in. We’re purely family owned and run.”

Like so many independent winemakers, the Zantvoorts were hit especially hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. The cellar door and restaurant had to close under the first statewide lockdown and again under the second, with business down at least 40 per cent just from that.

“It’s quite nerve-wracking shutting [down], and just fingers crossed that people come back,” says Liz of reopening at the first lockdown with limited seating and tastings. “But we were so lucky.” To adhere to social distancing guidelines, the Zantvoorts separated the restaurant and cellar door, opening a small pop-up cellar door in the winery itself. “I think people really enjoyed it,” she says. “They got to see a bit more of where we make the wine: the tanks, the barrels.”

“It was just starting to get momentum really, when it got shut down again,” says Michael with a laugh. Stumpy Gully also lost another revenue stream when Melbourne restaurants – venues that usually stock its wines – closed again. Online ordering has picked up, but the cellar door is a key draw for a winery situated in such a picturesque region, with beaches, bushwalks and B&Bs right on their proverbial doorstep. Several other wineries sit within 10 kilometres of Stumpy Gully, making it part of a popular wine trail (in non-restriction times), for Melbourne visitors enjoying a weekend away.

Beyond adjusting the business in the wake of the pandemic, Stumpy Gully has benefited from being stocked at First Choice Liquor Market, which sees them reaching new markets interstate. First Choice stocked the winery’s popular (and well-priced) Peninsula Panorama pinot noir, part of a range made for early drinking (a drink-now wine, not intended for long-term cellaring) and designed to introduce some of the region’s best varieties.

“They sent out an email offering support to small businesses like us. We had the pinot noir available, so we sent a sample and it went from there,” says Michael. The cherry-and raspberry-accented pinot noir ended up in 20 different First Choice Liquor Market stores around Victoria, including Ballarat, Mildura, Torquay and Bairnsdale. “It’s a nice, light, easy-drinking pinot, and it hits the right price point in the market. It’s been received really well, based on the reorders we’ve been getting already.”

With the entire wine industry facing unprecedented challenges, that kind of placement can make all the difference. As for the Zantvoorts’ plan for the second lockdown, customers can expect a more pronounced online presence from the cellar door, including giveaways and other incentives. And beyond that?

“Maybe have a glass of chardonnay?” says Michael with a laugh.

Keen to raise your glass to a local producer? Browse the range at First Choice Liquor Market and support your local industry today.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with First Choice Liquor Market.