Spring in our Vineyards

The agony and the ecstasy of cultivating biodynamic vines at Stefano Lubiana Wines is not without its challenges, but there is nothing else we would rather do and it brings us much joy.  When we first arrived in pristine Tasmania, 35 years ago as a young couple, we could only dream that the vineyard would invoke so much passion in us and drive us everyday.  Most days I walk the dogs, and stop along the way to tuck, weed or even simply admire the vines and their exquisite view.  Spring is especially beautiful with the many shades of green drenching the landscape.  Vines are like magnets they draw you in and once you begin to touch it’s hard to let go.  I think the vines impart a gratitude, a healing and a calmness that is hard to find elsewhere, and it is an offering of thanks for looking after them.  The feeling would be similar to walking through and admiring a botanic garden, basking in the wonders of its colours that leave an impression on both the conscious and the subconscious.

I must admit, the lifestyle of a vigneron is very selfish and leaves little time for much else.  It is always a race to fit in as much as we can before the season changes, from pruning, to canopy management, to harvest and so the cycle continues.  Having a vineyard is like having a child - dearly loved, there is never too much love or time that can be given to it.

At the moment we are racing to tuck the vines up into the trellis, directing the lush, supple vertical growth.  Canopy management this way ensures the vines receive more sunlight and ventilation, securing the upcoming gradual and timely ripening as well as ensuring low disease pressure.

Terroir is the hero of Stefano Lubiana Wines’ story. In order to manage our soils we cultivate them.  We mostly adhere to the biodynamic calendar’s barren phase during cultivation.  Therefore, the day after the full moon, we commence working the soil with our Braun mid-mount cultivator with a blade attachment. After the next full moon we alternate with the Bruan star tiller.  The tiller flicks the soil  back to where the grass and weeds were removed by the blades.  The blade cultivator attachment has wings, similar in shape to an aeroplane wing, one is attached to each side of the tractor.  The blade action swings in and out between the vines cutting and pulling out some soil grass and weeds that have grown since the last till.  This pattern of tilling and blading repeats throughout the year preventing grass and weeds from thieving the moisture and nutrients from the soil.  Our homemade compost is full of bacteria and nutrients that replenishes the soils.  We dress the vineyard with this material just prior to flowering ensuring the vines have the nutrients they need to set fruit.

As well as the cultivator, a  mower is hitched to the back of my tractor.  It slashes the mid-row, this singular action doing two jobs in one pass - saving soil compaction, diesel and time.  An important benefit of  cultivation is its capacity to impart oxygen below the surface and releases minerals and fertiliser from compacted zones, essential for improving our poor soils.  Access to these elements stimulates the vines to push growth to the top of the trellis.  Tall healthy organic canopies photosynthesis at an optimum level growing and ripening high quality fruit that imparts complexity, poise and precision to the wine.  Tasmania’s cool climate ensures ripening happens slowly so that flavour and structure manifest along the way.

While I’m in the vineyard, Stefano is busy repairing machinery and fixing breakdowns, his problem solving aptitude and intuitive brain can apply itself to the workings of all sorts of technology.  He is irreplaceable, and we are forever grateful.  He also manages our little plot of, mostly, Chardonnay at our newly planted vineyard on Blacksnake Road.  He is regularly in and out of the winery to mentor our son Marco who is stepping up to the winemaking role. He helps Phoebe and I with marketing, admin and contributes to the overall wellness of our little wine business.  Stefano and I, Marco and Phoebe are only part of our team.  Christopher, Chris, Bradey, Molly, Tim, Adelia, Keira, Isabella, Joel and many others contribute to our triumphs daily.

When you share a bottle of Stefano Lubiana, appreciate and know we’re working every day to create wines that carry the essence of our unique terroir and the soul of our Tasmanian estate.

06/12/2023 at 8:16 AM Permalink

2021 Vintage

The 2021 growing season was met with a wet winter allowing the soil to take in vital water for the season ahead. Spring was thankfully dry with budburst occuring at the end fo August. Cooler temperatures during the ripening season allowed for steady accumulation of sugar and phenolics with the wines from 2021 showing bright acidity, perfect for aging. 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!

16/08/2023 at 2:32 PM Permalink

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.

19/04/2023 at 8:26 AM Permalink

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!

Shop Here

22/03/2023 at 9:00 AM Permalink

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!

27/01/2023 at 3:11 PM Permalink

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!

18/01/2023 at 12:34 AM Permalink

Stefano Lubiana Riesling taking it to the next level

Steve fell in love with Rieslings during his travels post winemaking degree in 1985.  On route to Europe via Asia Steve met, Reiner, a gentle German giant.  Their Asian leg came to an end with Reiner traveling back to Germany and Steve taking up his internship in France.   After vintage Steve made his way to Reiner’s hometown of Zell a hamlet of Moselle located in Germany’s Rhine Valley.  Reiner, a man with a very generous soul took the time to show Steve the very top producers of Riesling throughout the valley.  An experience Steve has never forgotten to this day.  This is where the inspiration came from for the planting of Riesling at our Granton Vineyard.

Riesling comes in many styles, it can be sparkling, dry, off-dry, sweet, and sometimes it’s left on the vine to decay and transformed into what Australian’s call stickies the formal name being Noble rot wines.

In the past, we have made a slightly effervescent Riesling but generally, our preferred style is off-dry.  Depending on the year the residual sugar can range from 12 to 6 grams.

Residual sugar happens when we stop the wine fermenting with a sulphur addition before the wine reaches dryness.  The reason residual sugar is retained is to balance out high acid.

Riesling is naturally high in acid and even higher when grown in a cool climate like Tasmania.  In the past, we have left a higher residual sugar in the wine so that the wine is more balanced earlier in the wine’s drinking window. 

Recently we expanded our winemaking repertoire to include barrel-fermented and oak maturing of our Riesling.  This tool is used for the same reason the residual sugar element is used.  Fermenting Riesling in oak and maturing in oak softens its shape taking off the angle edges.  Less residual sugar is needed to balance the wine and the wine is more approachable earlier.

Austrian oak use is this wine’s point of difference and it creates wines that have middle body and texture without sacrificing the beautiful explosive aromas of orange blossom, musk, and chalky talcs.  In the past, we have aged Riesling in our cellar for a year or more to temper the racy, high-tingly acids.  The other benefit of employing tightly grained oak is it adds some very soft tannins to the finish of the wine and this marries well with creamy dishes or oily fish and crustaceans and the many choices of soft hand-crafted cheeses.  

24/11/2022 at 9:37 AM Permalink

New Aromatic Whites

We are excited to release our new Aromatic wines.

2022 Pinot Gris
2022 Sauvignon Blanc
2021 Riesling click here for our Riesling blog.

The Sauvignon Blanc and the Pinot Gris have been sold out for some months, almost having a cult following.  The Riesling is also selling out faster as more customers gravitate to unmatched and rare, biodynamic Riesling.

Reflecting on the 2022 growing season it was mild with lots of spring rains, a luxury our warm soils do not always receive.  The mild and long season gave the vines abundant time to accumulate flavour and grace, resulting in wines with highly perfumed aromatics, opulent layers of summer fruit flavour, soft juicy texture, and elegant soft finishes with a tiny tannin grip to compliment any dish.

Our aromatic wines are made with the same care and traditional methods used by the best French & German winemakers.  Tasmania has a very similar climate to Europe and through Steve’s heritage and his many travels and work experiences in France, Italy and Germany he has mastered the nuances of aromatic winemaking.

Precision, balance, and clarity in our wines are the results of A-grade viticulture, the wisdom of biodynamics and its capacity to harness the life force of our terroir and the cosmos, our winemaking experience, and intuition as well as the use of tight-grained Austrian founders and their capacity to deliver the perfect ratio of lees contact. Light use of sulphur at the perfect bottling window ensures quality and drinkability is retained.

20/11/2022 at 10:58 AM Permalink

Seriously Good Chardonnay

Seriously good future Chardonnay

As mentioned in my last blog we are in the process of planting a special little vineyard at Blacksnake Road, Granton.  Overlooking the stunning Derwent River, this new vineyard, as the crow flies, is located two kilometres south of our mother-vineyard at Rowbottoms Road Granton.

The plot is 4ha in total, nestled in amongst 1ha of rural living properties. It was purchased in 2021, chosen for its soil type, elevation and aspect but, most importantly, for its suitability to grow Chardonnay.

The soil, or terroir, is black clay over a mealy chalky base.  The site slopes to the North and is on a 15 degrees gradient at 120 metres above sea level.  The soil type is typically heavier than that of our mother vineyard’s, so increased density will benefit balance.

High-density plantings grow vines that have higher leaf to fruit ratio than normal vineyards. The root system is pushed deeper rather than wider and shoots grow higher to exploit the sunshine. The ultimate outcome is fruit with greater depth and concentration of flavour.

Our Blacksnake Road vineyard has a vine density is 6173/ha, 1.8 metre rows and by 0.9 metres between the vines.  This new vineyard will have 28% more vines than our existing chardonnay blocks.  The clones are a selection of 95, Penfolds and Gin Gin.  At our home vineyard we have been growing these clones for decades, and they are the star performers amongst their cohorts.

Paul Sloan of Small Vines Wines Ca USA says it best in this YouTube video:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xB0vZKFPJBo

Paul’s vineyard is planted in a warmer region than our properties.  However in this YouTube clip he discusses new world viticulture versus old world, and the impact spacing (vine density) has on sugar and acid accumulation at a lower alcohol.

Elegance, drinkability and complexity are highly prized in chardonnay wines.  Not always easy to achieve.  Low yields, a truly cool climate, chalky soils and modern vineyard equipment are amongst some of the most important elements in generating success.  After 30 years of experience and proven research and development we are determined to plant the ultimate chardonnay vineyard.  This is where tried clones, site selection and vineyard setup ensures the future outcome of our new Chardonnay vineyard will be very exciting.

03/11/2022 at 2:34 PM Permalink

2021 Estate Chardonnay biodynamic new release!

The 2021 growing season was very cool yet mild as there were very few days above 30 degrees and the mornings were mostly still and crisp.  The days were typically sunny, with the occasional light cloud cover.   We were lucky to avoid rain at harvest and the low-yielding fruit came in on time in pristine condition. 

The tingling, cooling sea breeze arrived every afternoon racing up the valley where it tempered the afternoon’s westerly warmth.  To produce Chardonnay with fineness it is crucial for the daytime temperature to drop to retain the natural acid.

Our little vineyard faces north, planted on gravelly soils at 100 meters elevation. The site overlooks the eastern bank of the spectacular Derwent River.  Here our vines flourish with the ebbs and flows of the tidal influence and the seasonal patterns. Vineyard management is our focus.  We hustle daily to keep the canopy open and positioned.  This allows for good ventilation mitigating disease pressure.  A healthy canopy provides shade from the midday sun and lengthens the vines’ ripening capacity.  Small bunches intensify flavor, prompting crop monitoring to ensure our high-density plantings are faithful to low yields.  We have a diverse mixture of chardonnay clones which provides another layer of complexity.

Hand-picked fruit is processed immediately to preserve all the integrity and purity of the grapes.  All fruit is tank-pressed first and then barrelled by gravity to the underground cellar.  The juice, on full solids, fills an assortment of barriques.  These are mostly manufactured by small French coopers - with a good level of new oak.  The juice’s indigenous yeast now takes the stage and erupts into spontaneous fermentation bubbling away in naturally cool and calm conditions.  Barrels are topped regularly and battonaged infrequently.  This is how the French masters have been making chardonnay for many generations.  It is a traditional approach that we have employed. 

Our 2021 Estate Chardonnay is fashioned in a classic, old-world style. Light golden straw in colour, with serene floral notes together with, custard apple, pineapple, and citrus aromas.  Every mouthful is textured with rich layers of cream, toasted nuts, and meal.  The tannins are quite elegant.  They drive and focus on the length of this wine together with the fruit acidity, but they don’t assert themselves.  Instead, they balance the wine’s power and opulence.

17/09/2022 at 11:06 AM Permalink