2021 Sasso Pinot Noir

Our 2021 Sasso Pinot Noir has received a gold medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards! 

'Now in its 20th year, Decanter World Wine Awards (DWWA) has firmly established itself as the world’s largest and most influential wine competition. Respected globally for its rigorous judging process and world-class judges, DWWA results are trusted internationally by both trade and consumers.

The 20th edition of the competition saw 236 international wine experts, from 30 countries, including 53 Masters of Wine and 16 Master Sommeliers evaluate 18,250 wines from 57 countries.

'In the glass the 2021 Sasso shows a vibrant medium ruby in colour. It has a complex nose with notes of sichuan peppercorn, clove, red apple skins, orange and red cherries. The palate is distinctly fine and the fruit beautifully balances between powerful and restrained. Saffron, cut fennel, dried herbs, and pink peppercorns also feature on the palate. The bright acidity along with the silky mouthfeel provides the finishing touch. Pair the 2021 Sasso with truffle, roast duck or pork. Drinking beautifully now the wine will benefit from 10+ years of cellaring.'

The word Sasso means stone in Italian, chosen for this wine due to the predominantly stoney and gravelly soils we have in our vineyard. It is a single site wine coming from three distinct plots in our vineyard at Granton in the Derwent Valley. We are blessed to have such different soil types in our cool Derwent Valley site. This wine is the truest expression of our terroir.

The geology of the plots varies considerably from grey silty gravel over gravelly clay in the Ruscello plot to red chalky clay over limestone in La Roccia plot with the Il Giardino plot having a heavier greyish black clay topsoil over chalk and gravelly clay. The elevation of these plots is 100m above sea level with a 10 to 15 degree north to north east aspect to ensure a high level of phenolic maturity at harvest.

The early releases of Sasso mostly came from the Ruscello plot producing fine boned ethereal Pinot with immediate appeal and lovely softness. In the last three vintages we have introduced the other two plots into the blend to provide greater structure and palate length provided by the heavier soils.

The plots have a vine density of 4500 vines per hectare and are intensively manicured by hand with multiple passes throughout the year to ensure perfect sun exposure, cane positioning and fruit load. Green thinning is extensive for Sasso with a maximum yield of 4 tonnes per hectare, often less. This tiny yield ensures superb and profound concentration, a hallmark of this wine. These plots have been grown Organically/Biodynamically since 2010 and Stefano Lubiana Wines has been certified biodynamic since 2013.

With all the attention and hard work done in the vineyard each year the winemaking takes a backstep. With such clean ripe fruit, winemaking is a straightforward process with no fancy tricks or additions. Most ferments are 100% whole bunch with a few whole berry ferments for blending. All ferments are wild and occur in small open fermenters. The wines are matured in French barriques in our underground cellar for 12 months before bottling on site.

 

Deep Valley Wines | A collaboration between Steve and Marco Lubiana

Deep Valley Wines

A collaboration between Steve and Marco Lubiana

Deep Valley is collaboration between father and son, Steve of Stefano Lubiana Wines and Marco Lubiana. The wines are a balance of Steve's classically graceful winemaking style and Marco’s youthful intuitiveness which has resulted in a new joint label for the talented duo. Developed to produce small batch wines from Steve's sustainable and ethically farmed vineyards located in the Derwent and Huon Valleys, these wines are a pure expression of Steve and Marco's creative winemaking.

The 2022 release blessed us with a Chardonnay from the Derwent Valley and a Pinot Noir from the Huon Valley. Both wines are a limited single vineyard release and are unfiltered and unfined to capture the terroir from which they come from.

 

Deep Valley Chardonnay 2022 - $60

The fruit for this chardonnay comes from our property at Granton. The grapes were pressed and the juice underwent fermentation in 100% barriques - 20% being new oak, the rest in neutral oak. The wine underwent full malolactic fermentation and was aged on lees for 10 months to promote complexity and give the palate a rounded mouthfeel. Barrel stirring (battonage) was kept at a minimum to preserve freshness in the wine.

Upon opening the wine dispays a rich nose full of lemon peel, grape pith, quince, toast and flint. The palate immediately follows with bright and vibrant acidity, a round and creamy mouthfeel and a long finish. A great match with fresh and cooked shellfish! Cellaring potential 5 years.

 

Deep Valley Pinot Noir 2022 - $60

Unlike it's counterpart, the fruit for the Deep Valley Pinot Noir is sourced from the cool depths of the Huon Valley. The grapes were cold soaked before fermentation to promote colour richness. Fermentation was with mostly whole berries and were de-stemmed apart from 10% being whole bunch which adds aromatics, tannins and aids in the aging potential. 10% of the wine saw old oak with the remainder in stainless steel to preserve freshness and show the terroir of the Huon Valley!

A wine that is full of red fruits such as raspberry, cherries and hints of rhubarb and spice. The crunchy acidity of the wine is sure to delight! Pair this wine with mushroom, roast chicken or grilled pork! Cellaring potential 5 years.

 

New Releases | 2022 Grüner Veltliner & 2020 Chicane Merlot Malbec

New Releases

 

2022 Grüner Veltliner

We are excited to annouce the release of our 2022 Grüner Veltliner! For those who are unfamiliar with the variety, Grüner Veltliner (grew-ner velt-lee-ner) is a native Austrian variety and accounts for nearly a third of vineyards in Austria. The variety offers a wide spectrum of flavours that range from citrus and stone fruits to more exotic spicy notes.

Steve's love of Grüner Veltliner started after doing vintage at Pittnauer in Burgenland, Austria in 2012. During his time in Austria he saw and tasted some exception examples of Grüner Veltliner which prompted him with the idea of grafting some vines over to see how the varierty would perform in the Derwent Valley. Now onto our 8th release it is safe to say the Derwent Valleys cool climate is a great match for this aromatic and textural Austrian variety.

The 2022 Grüner Veltliner is a riper style and exudes orange blossom, pear and musk on the nose. The palate is textural with subtle oak, lychee and roses. A great match with grilled artichoke or asparagus, asian spices and rich soft cheeses.

 

2020 Chicane Merlot Malbec

Merlot and Malbec are originally Bordeaux varities where Merlot still flourishes on the right bank of Bordeaux in St.Emillon and Pomerol. Malbec on the otherhand is still grown in smaller quantities in Bordeaux and around Cahors however it is now a key red variety in Argentina, where it grows in Mendoza at the foothills of the Andes.

The 2020 Chicane Merlot Malbec is a blend of predominantely Merlot. As both Merlot and Malbec have thicker skins than Pinot Noir the wines are more structured with elevated tannin and spend more time in French oak barrels to ensure well integrated oak and soften the tannins.

On the nose the 2020 Chicane has a creamy plum nose with black and red fruits such as cranberry, mulberry, strawberries and pomegranate. Hints of rhubarb overlay the fruit with fennel seed, clove and star anise complimenting the palate. The wine is dry with tight, chalky tannins. A good match with slow braised beef cheeks or charcoal grilled lamb shoulder. Although 2020 is a cooler year than 2019 this release of Chicane will benefit from further cellaring.

We are lucky to be able to produce and release these unique wines however, as our focus here at Stefano Lubiana Wines is on Pinot Noir and Chardonnay these releases are always limited in quantity and sell out before the following vintage! To secure the new 2022 Grüner Veltliner, 2020 Chicane Merlot Malbec or both, please follow the link below.

 

New Release | 2021 Single Site Pinot Noir's

New Releases | 2021 Single Blocks – Ruscello, Il Giardino & La Roccia

The time has come for the release of our beloved Single Block Pinot Noir's. The demand for these wines have risen over the years and we see these Single Block Pinot Noir's sell out in a matter of months. A very small-production of each wine results in extremely limited quantities of the Single Blocks being available. Please see below notes on the 2021 vintage and each of the wines.

During the 2021 vintage we had a small amount of rain however due to diligant work in our biodynamic vineyard our grapes reached phenolic maturity earlier so we were able to pick most our grapes before the rain. The vintage was also challenging as we were short staffed due to COVID-19. This will be a vintage we remember where all hands were on deck to pick and process the grapes!

The soil type of each of the single blocks underpins their unique profiles. All soil types are within 500 meters of each other, such a small area to have such differences in their soil profiles. Reduced yields allow the vine to focus its energy to their roots, delving deeper and wider into the soil to absorb more minerals and nutrients. Keep in mind all 3 Single Block Pinot Noirs are vinified the exact same way.

 

Ruscello

The Ruscello block is located near a little creek that runs mostly in winter through the middle of the property. The soil is a silty grey loam over white gravel and gravelly clay. The vines are mature at 25 years old. This block produces very generous and pretty fruit – exactly what most devotees love about Pinot Noir

 

Il Giardino

The block from where the Il Giardino Pinot Noir comes from sits over a cracking black clay base over patches of chalky limestone. Limestone is known to attract water and clay allows for valuable water retention. The block is located high on the hillside tucked away from the sometimes, harsh westerly weather. As a result, the vines grow with more vigour, producing structured wines with higher acidity and tannin profiles.

 

La Roccia

The main geological feature of this block is a large limestone rock shelf that rest in the middle of the block. It has red crumbling clay topsoil and has the highest elevation of the 3 blocks, facing northeast. The La Roccia, is always the first picked and consistently produces wines with the greatest structure and tannin ofthe all blocks, lending this wine to age well in the cellar. We recommend 10 years cellaring.

 

Pinot Noir with Easter Lunch

Easter Sunday is on the 9th April 2023. This date will come around quickly. Harvest usually commences at our Granton Estate on or about the 1st of March. This year we started picking sparkling wine grapes on March 14th. It is a very busy time of the year. But we usually host Easter lunch for our family. We also invite a handful of friends and vintage interns who are at a loose end or who have no family with whom to celebrate.

This year, Pinot Noir will be the star of the show. Generally a handful of bottles are chosen to celebrate the day, matched with Steve’s favourite meal, duck. He buys a duck semi prepared from our local Moonah Chinese grocer (this is the cheating part). The duck is re-baked it in our oven for about an hour to achieve the twice-cooked flavour. To serve, Steve steams up some pancakes or buns and slices up organic spring onions and cucumber to accompany.  A shiny glaze of hoisin sauce is added once the ingredients are packed neatly into the pancake.  A couple of family members are vegan but this poses no problem whatsoever. Plant Asia is a food brand that makes plant-based duck that is widely available. This meat duck substitute matches equally as well with the king of reds, Pinot Noir.

Steve admits after over 30 years of making Pinot, and travelling the country attending countless dinners and lunches, he can say he’s eaten more duck than almost any other consumers. It is by far the most delicious meat to marry with Pinot Noir.

Typically chefs prepare confit-duck in a restaurant setting. This is where the duck is taken from the oil and crisped up in the oven, and served with steamed greens and creamy mashed potatoes with jus. Preparing duck this way provides texture to the protein as well as the melt in your mouth tenderness, which accentuates its gamey spicy flavour.

Duck is only a suggestion for Easter lunch; we are lucky in Australia to have many choices of other fresh and affordable foods. Like most families at Easter we will enjoy a few chocolate eggs after the meal.

There are plenty of fantastic Australian Pinot Noirs to choose from as well as some great New Zealand, American and French wines. We have put together a Easter Pinot Noir 6 bottle pack for this occasion, giving you the opportunity to enjoy three different Pinot Noirs of ours over Easter and offering you a saving of $38 on the wines. Buon Gusto members also receive their additional saving on top.

This Easter Pinot Noir 6 bottle pack consists of:

1 x 2022 Stefano Lubiana 'Primavera' Pinot Noir
Our Primavera Pinot Noir is mostly wild fermented, de-stemmed and taken off skins early to retain lots of  fruit flavour. The grapes are hand picked, hand sorted and fermented with own yeasts and some whole bunches. Basket pressed after about 3 weeks. The result is a beautiful, soft red wine with natural medium body that has wonderful drinkability. 

4 x 2021 Stefano Lubiana 'Estate' Pinot Noir
"Tasted alongside the 2020, this 2021 Estate Pinot Noir shows the vintage for all that it was: cool, fine and precise. All of the 2021s tasted for this report have an extra level of excitement and finesse about them, and this wine is included within that. In the mouth, there is a framework of very spicy, fine tannin: orange zest/oil, Campari, black cherries, thyme and a hint of sage. The wine is savory and vital, pure and complete. Very good, but it will be better." - 93+ Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate

1 x 2018 Stefano Lubiana 'Sasso' Pinot Noir
We have three unique blocks of Pinot Noir (II Giardino, La Roccia & Ruscello). The fruit from these blocks are specifically chosen for this wine as they produce fruit of the highest quality. This wine is medium weighted, with soft savoury tannins and well-balanced acidity. "A style in which I have always enjoyed making and drinking" - Steve Lubiana. The wine is only produced in exceptional years with the 2020 being only the 8th year of Sasso.

Buon appetitio & Happy Easter!

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Making wine in Australia that tastes like Europe

Making wine in Australia that tastes like Europe.

As a young couple we loved to share a bottle of Beaujolais, Village.  We adored its fruitiness tannin and soft finish; at the time no one in Australia was producing anything remotely like it.  I think this is where the seed was sown to produce a comparable, more accurately interpretive, wine style.

The grape variety Gamay was not widely produced when we first planted our vineyard and I’m not even sure if you could buy cuttings back then, I'm not up to date with what clones of Gamay are now available in Australia.  Our first priority was to plant Pinot Noir and Chardonnay to produce sparkling wine given it was the reason we relocated from the Riverland of South Australia to greater Hobart.  At that time 1990 Australia was experiencing a financial crisis and businesses were dropping like flies due to ultra high interest rates around 18-21% the levels not yet seen since.  Luckily grapes that were tightly held became available due to the difficult financial conditions.

Confident that we could sell a new style of wine, high interest rates did not deter us other than check our exuberance to make more wine than we could really afford.  At that time banks were really conservative in their lending, given the foreclosures.

In 1993 we produced our first very fruity, soft Pinot Noir we called it Primavera Pinot Noir modelled on our favourite Beaujolais.  We pinched the name ‘Primavera’ off a set of 4 decorative plates named after each of the seasons Steve’s mother, Dolores purchased from Bassano, Italy during one of their machinery buying trips with her husband Mario.

We were purchasing grapes at the time, as our vineyards were not yet producing.  Steve believed the best wine he could make was a soft red, one highly perfumed, super fruity, with very soft tannins and acids.  Something with a romantic flare that would appeal to all generations, a wine to share with those you love, a lover's wine.  A wine that can accompany a picnic or ordered from a wine list at an expensive restaurant.  It can be given as a gift trusting it has universal appeal.

Our Granton vineyards have been in production for decades now and we converted to biodynamics in 2010.  Our Primavera wine has grown in stature and quality during this time.  Each vintage we elevate this wine to the next level of irresistibility.  The grapes are supplied with more and more nutrition, the winemaking and processing equipment are fine-tuned and its oak components are now matched more succinctly.

Today we release the newest addition to our premium wine offering with the very delicious 2022 Primavera Pinot Noir.  This wine shines as a wonderful example of how a European wine inspired us to create our very own flavour of Europe in Tasmania.  Raspberries and strawberries perfume the nose while subtle flavours of cherries and dark berries as well as cedar spice saturate the palate.  Super fine silky tannins and acids hold tension and slowly fades out on the finish.  This wine suits many cuisines and is built to age 5-10 years depending on your cellar.

We celebrate the new release of our 2022 Primavera Pinot Noir!

 

Summer in our vineyards

Summer in the vineyard is at full throttle.  Spring was cool with many topping spring rains.  This set the vines up for an explosion of growth when the warm weather hit us leading up to Christmas Day 2022.

Since coming back from Christmas it has been a constant hive of activity in the vineyard including catching up on mowing, tucking, and hedging.  The spray programme, consisting mostly of sulphur sprays, has relaxed given the warm mild conditions and no rain.  However, we still monitor disease on a regular basis, knowing biodynamic farming leaves no real arsenal in the toolbox to fight disease once it sets in.

Today as I write this blog the bunches are getting very close to closing and we have an average to medium crop due to showers/rain at flowering in early December.  Rain can disrupt pollen transfer, preventing fertilisation of the flower. The result is no berry or a seedless berry.  There is no risk of overcropping!  Too many bunches per vine causes dilution of flavour, acid and tannins. Each season we work hard to keep yields in balance to ensure our quality is maintained and improved as much as possible.

Also slated as an important job but not a huge load on the vineyard crew is monitoring the bunch numbers once bunches have closed.  We need to check bunch weights and numbers to ensure crop levels are accurate.  Bunch thinning ensues, particularly for the ultra premium wines, if we find the crops are too heavy for the same reason mentioned above.

The next wave of work on our agenda is managing the new vineyards, (2ha of Chardonnay, 0.3ha of Malvasia and 0.5ha of Pinot Gris), by wrapping down the shoots over the fruiting wire as they become long enough.  This keeps the vineyard neat and tidy and the trunks straight, as well as providing easy access to the inter-rows.

Bottling has also been happening concurrently.  Some wines are nearing ready to bottle, and the barrels will need to be emptied so that we can fill them with this year’s vintage.  The wines that were bottled and stored over the winter will be retrieved and labelled ready for Autumn release.

In the winery we will soon start to prepare the cellar for vintage, mostly by maintaining and cleaning equipment ready for harvest in March.  It is always like this, a flow from one season to the next.  Enjoy the beautiful summer weather and share a glass of wine and kindness whenever you can!