For Heidi Middleton of Sass & Bide, fashion relates to wine production in that “quality is everything.” For Michael Aylward, the pinnacle of Ocean Eight’s quality is represented in the Aylward pinot noir, his vision and pursuit to make the best pinot noir from the Mornington Peninsula.

Ocean Eight is very boutique, all about quality, and no corners are cut. Ocean Eight have produced a pinot noir for a few years now, but this is the first year the “Aylward” will be released - coming from select rows of vines from one of their vineyards they identified as having enormous potential. These rows of vines have then been cropped ultra low to maximise intensity. This 2007 vintage wine is very much in red fruit spectrum, with some serious textural palate weight, and significant forest floor characteristics. Extremely limited in quantity, only 150 dozen bottles have been produced with a few of these being adorned with Sass & Bide’s label in Wine Of Design 2009.

Middleton’s says her creative direction for the wine is “a strong visual contradiction, all about contrast.”

Sass & Bide is one of Australia’s most loved fashion brands, recognized globally for exclusive, distinct and quality designs.

Sass & Bide is the namesake label of Sarah-Jane Clarke (sass) and Heidi Middleton (bide). This year celebrates ten successful years.

The sense of free-spirited confidence and contradiction that defines their personal sense of style provided the inspiration for the initial denim collection and the incredibly successful ‘east village’ jean in 1999. Within two years the collection expanded into seasonal ready to wear and evolved from underground phenomena in Australia, to the runways of New York and London Fashion Weeks gaining international recognition.

They were the first Australian designers to be invited to show on schedule at New York Fashion Week where they have shown for eight consecutive seasons.

Moulded from the traditional cellars of Burgundy, Ocean Eight is a boutique setup with a focus on high quality. Their winery in Red Hill features an underground barrel room with a capacity of 350 barrels, not only enabling the wine to be stored at a constant low temperature and ideal humidity, but also to be moved by gravity alone – the gentlest method for moving wine. Ocean Eight aims to control every part of the wine process from growing the fruit right through to bottling and distribution.

Asides from being the nicest young chap in Australia, Michael Aylward’s serious commitment to making great chardonnay and pinot noir is already delivering stunning results from their discreet gravity fed winery with no intention of hosting a cellar door that is oh so Burgundian.

“I would rather stay small and improve on quality every year than increase volume which would take my focus away from each barrel of wine. Making high quality wines year in year out is my priority. I want Ocean Eight to have a style in all our wines that is unique in terms of the quality but distinctly Mornington Peninsula.”

Aylward will be releasing a sparkling wine under Ocean Eight in the next two years. He says, “Each bottle will be disgorged by hand. I learnt the ins and outs of Champagne production over a very long lunch with Remy Krug. I would like to custom make this for a small number of top restaurants with the dosage according to style of sparkling they would prefer.”

Aylward has been a finalist in the v-know Young Gun of Wine Awards in both 2008 and 2009.