Tag Archives: Tasmania

Chatto Pinot Noir 2013

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Wine communicators collectively wet themselves over this on its release. I’m tasting it for the first time tonight, and like it somewhat more than its 2012 predecessor.

It’s a smart wine. Transparent, cleanly articulated, complex; this is immediately expressive and shows a distinctive personality. There’s a bristled spice and sour tang to the flavour profile that recalls food as much as wine. I regret that sourness is almost always considered a deficiency in wine appreciation; although it can be indicative of poorly handled acid, here it provides the refreshment of a tamarind amongst pungent spice, balancing the wine’s warmer notes and creating an impression of freshness.

The palate structure is firm yet light, as is indeed the wine as a whole, but intensity is striking and flavours are confident. There’s an ease to the way this moves down its line, fanning satin berry fruits across the tongue then whisking them away with a clean flourish, teasing with a shake of tannin and a spritz of acid.

The question of longevity must, of course, be invoked, and having done so I shall dismiss it without answer. Who cares? It’s drinking fabulously right now.

Chatto
Price: $50
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Gift

Stefano Lubiana Estate Pinot Noir 2012

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My esteem for this producer grows over time. Never a maker of easy Pinot styles even at entry level, this Estate wine, made entirely from biodynamically grown fruit, has something to say about Pinot from the Derwent Valley.

On opening, the aroma is deeply ferrous, smelling of blood and rust and all things manly, telling a confronting story that gradually softens with the emergence of dark cherry fruit. This is rich, almost liquerous, in character, and sits below the aroma’s savouriness, like wool undies under a suit of armour. There are other notes too — undergrowth and crushed leaf — that fold easily into a nose that is a strip tease of forbidding lusciousness. Personally, I love how different this smells from so much Australian Pinot. It’s unabashedly savoury, with a muscularity that continues to flex even as the aroma evolves with air.

In the mouth, predictably structured and intense. Stylistically, this is a “take no prisoners” wine, presenting on entry with firm acid and good density of fruit. Despite some heft and generally dark flavours, the palate structure is quite sprightly, thanks in large part to that acid, but also to tannins that are chalky and firm towards the back of the palate. Flavours flow well with nary a peak or trough, though they are, understandably for such a young wine, not as integrated as they will be in time. Even an hour or swirling brings notes closer together, so give it plenty of air if drinking now. Length is there, needing a slight attenuation of structure to fill out.

This speaks so strongly of place, and I’m drawn in by its narrative. A terribly good wine, then, with its best days firmly ahead.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A50
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Black Label Riesling 2012

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Now we’re talking. This wine, made from estate grapes grown biodynamically, is also the product of several purposeful winemaking choices: the grapes were crushed, some skin contact allowed, fermentation occurred in French oak puncheons, all this followed by six months of lees contact. All of these techniques will typically create texture and weight, as well as the development of some secondary flavours, facts that are easy to discern when tasting this wine.

The aroma is flinty and tight, with notes of citrus flower and stone dust overlaying hints of richer fruit flavour. I like the sense this wine gives of not yielding too easily; flint and smoke give the aroma profile a real blade, and it never entirely gives way to a sense of softness. Nice tension indeed.

In the mouth, a story of texture and fruit ripeness. This has plenty of flavour. Indeed, the mid-palate swells with rich candied citrus peel and luscious fresh juice, yet it is preceded by a taut entry and followed by swathes of savoury texture through the after palate, dusty and rough like a well-used walking trail at the height of Summer. Earthy, musky notes float through before the finish reverts to lemon juice and chalk. It’s a curious narrative, moving as it does from such fullness to such angularity, yet I appreciate how each taste tells a story that covers such ground.

A pretty unconventional style in Australian terms, but those who enjoy texture, or who have already acquired a taste for Alsatian Riesling, needn’t hesitate. Cellar door only.

Stefano Lubiana
Price: $A32
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Vintage Brut 2005

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As I sit here jet-lagged and generally puzzled to be back in my study in Brisbane, I resort to sparkling wine to inject levity and the spectre of some kind of celebration into my evening. This wine is from always-interesting Stefano Lubiana in the Derwent Valley in Tasmania. I was fortunate enough to visit Steve earlier this year and saw a most impressive new winery and cellar door facility in the last stages of development. I believe it’s all up and running now, and I suggest it would be well worth a visit to anyone in the area.

To the wine, then: quite a rich nose that mixes lees-derived aromas with weighty fruit and edges of caramel. This seems a much riper wine than the 2004, though its tendency towards savouriness and off-the-wall flavours remains consistent. There’s a lot to enjoy here if one isn’t terminally prejudiced against fuller, more powerful sparkling styles. Personally, I miss a certain lightness of touch that, for all its muscularity, this doesn’t quite manage to retain.

In the mouth, predictably full and rich. Acid, the curse of Australian sparkling wines, is fine and controlled, and benefits from the fruit’s weight. Mouthfeel isn’t quite as creamy as a top Champagne, but it’s far from coarse and, to the extent that it’s a little rambunctious, is well matched to the wine’s weight and intensity. An impactful mid-palate leads to a clean, fresh after palate that extends well back into the mouth. Indeed, this is a long wine.

Not the last word in refinement, then, but a truly interesting wine for its range of flavours, power and outright generosity.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A58
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample

Freycinet Vineyard Pinot Noir 2011

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I’m in Tasmania at the moment, enjoying as many local wines as I can. My hosts have arranged a big Pinot lineup tonight, but I’ve already sampled a couple, including this one from the east coast. In browsing the Freycinet Vineyard Web site, I was intrigued to see the winemaking notes indicate this, the winery’s premium Pinot, went through its primary fermentation in a rotary fermenter. Refreshingly new world.

To the wine itself, good varietal character on the nose, showing a prettiness of fruit alongside significant spice and forest floor. Getting those balances right is an obvious challenge but it’s amazing how often wines can seem slightly off in the interplay of these basic elements. This, by contrast, seems to elegantly move from bright fruit to black spice to sappy notes and back.

The palate, for now, is quite acidic and this overwhelms one’s impression of flavour a bit. There’s good flavour there, though, with reasonably intense red fruit and sap, backed up by spiced oak. Tannins take a back seat to acid, structurally, but they are prickly and textural when they make an appearance towards the back of the palate. Should the acid fold back into the wine, this may become a really elegant wine. The flavours are spot on.

Freycinet Vineyard
Price: $55
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Gift

Stefano Lubiana Vintage Brut 2004

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This makes an interesting companion piece to the Mitchell Harris Sabre tasted recently. Similar ballpark in terms of pricing, but utterly different expressions of Australian sparkling wine. Where the Sabre is rich with a certain unctuous quality, this sits on the side of angular purity.

The aroma is crisp and savoury, making less concessions to fruit than the Sabre while matching it in terms of expressiveness and complexity. This certainly sits on the funkier end of the spectrum, showcasing lees derived notes ahead of its pure citrus and red fruit components. This smells quite classical in the manner in which it puts forward each note with poise and clean articulation. Intellectual more than hedonistic, but also rich and multi-layered, with fuller bass notes underlying the spectrum of high toned aromas.

In the mouth, it’s worth noting how achieved is this wine’s texture. It has none of the coarseness of mouthfeel that can plague lower priced sparkling wines. Acid is fine and crisp, effervescence even and luxurious. It’s very much what I feel a good sparkling ought to feel like. Flavours are as per the aroma, a bready note taking the lead, backed up by a range of fruit notes from citrus through to fleshier red berries. This tastes coherent from top to bottom, texture and flavour operating in concert to create a wine that is both chiselled and satisfyingly flavoursome.

Excellent sparkling wine.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A53
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Estate Chardonnay 2010

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A fascinating companion to the Estate Pinot Noir from 2010, this swings in altogether a different direction. Where the Pinot is a brooding, masculine style, this becons more openly, flaunting its charms with little reserve.

The nose gives its game away quickly. At a time when many Australian Chardonnays are shedding pounds in the pursuit of a lithe line, this wine positively flops into one’s nostrils, offering full stonefruit, spice, caramel and other luscious aromas. Don’t let me be misunderstood, though; I have a lot of time for more opulent Chardonnay styles, and feel at their best they represent the apex of the grape. A few sniffs suggests this might be a good one, as there is good complexity and harmony amongst the wine’s aromas. I particularly enjoy the hint of struck match that sneaks in alongside more fruit-oriented notes.

The palate contains these flavours in a framework that is tauter than one might expect. There’s real shape and flow here, thanks in part to an acid line that is fine but firm where it needs to be (notably through the after palate). The wine is mouthfilling, due in turn to the intensity of its flavour and a certainly slipperiness of mouthfeel. There are some prickly, refreshingly bitter phenolics too, which add a nice twist to the flavour profile. Spiced oak sings through the finish.

Not a wine of subtlety, then, but quite delicious and cleverly balanced. I like it.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A48-50
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Estate Pinot Noir 2010

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There are all sorts of lovely wines coming out of the 2010 vintage, which is always a fun thing for a wine lover (though perhaps not for his or her wallet). To my great shame, I don’t taste all that many Tasmanian wines, so when this arrived in the mail I got straight into it.

A very masculine style. I’m aware that masculine and feminine are two of the more contested, and potentially meaningless, terms in the wine lexicon, but that’s the first impression this wine gave when it threw its aroma, and one that persists on tasting. The nose is firm, dark, brooding, with a firmly savoury profile and an uncompromising stance. This is light years from seductive, pretty Pinots and, for me, asks quite different questions. Not to suggest there isn’t perfume here; far from it. It’s actually quite expressive, but its aroma is well built, full of mighty columns and firm oak.

The nifty thing about this wine is that it takes a more challenging stance, flavour-wise, without losing its suppleness in the mouth. This has delightful flow over the tongue and a voluptuous mouthfeel that caresses with its fullness and fine texture. Savoury red fruits are more in evidence here than on the nose, showing a medicinal character as well as the influence of some stalk (though I was surprised to read only five percent whole bunches went into this). Acid brightens the after palate and keeps the finish vibrant and fresh. A hint of caramel closes each mouthful.On the downside, this tastes exceptionally young and its elements are not as well connected as they will be in a little while. Hardly a flaw; more like a promise.

Top Pinot.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A50-55
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Brut Reserve NV

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The world of moderately priced Australian sparkling wine can be mouth-puckering in its disappointment, so I’m always on the lookout for good wines at prices cheaper than low-end Champagne. My go-to wine for a while has been the regular Brown Brothers NV, but this slightly more expensive wine is also an attractive proposition.

On pouring, an alarmingly abundant mousse that settles quickly to a subdued, spare bead. The nose is initially savoury, with hints of mushroom and yeast, though this could never be described as a style that is heavy on these elements. Rather, they are an accent to fine, crisp fruit notes, part apple and part strawberry, delicate and bright. The palate is stirring while, thankfully, avoiding the edgy acid that can plague our affordable sparklings. Entry is lively and surprisingly full, rounded fruit flavours becoming more prominent as the line progresses. This fullness does come at the expense of defined incisiveness; whether this is a good or bad thing is, I imagine, a matter of taste. For me, it robs the wine of that last ounce of freshness. No matter; there’s plenty of flavour and a well-balanced amount of spritz. Dosage seems restrained. The after palate is brighter, tilting towards a citrus sharpness that becomes bleached as the wine moves through its ultra-clean finish.

This is a cleverly made wine that privileges drinkability above clarity of articulation. A real crowd-pleaser.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A34
Closure: Cork
Source: Sample

Stefano Lubiana Collina 2008

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It’s hard not to engage in a conversation about style when tasting Australian Chardonnay, as the varietal is currently convulsing its way through various winemakers’ ideas of what it ought to taste like, not always happily. It’s disappointing to see ongoing comparisons to Old World styles; surely the point is for us to discover, through experimentation, the most appealing expressions of the grape within our various regions. In any case, it’s a process I am watching, and in a small way contributing to, with interest.

This wine struck me as particularly interesting when it arrived in the mail. A cellar door only release, its pricing marks it as determinedly up-market. And, more or less immediately on pouring, it justified its price point. Ultimate quality aside, this wine throws a whole lot at you without so much as a breather. Aromas leap from the glass: gunpowder, oatmeal, cantaloupe, waxed lemon. It seems a heavily worked wine, but one that expresses its complexity with tight, almost brutal, focus. This isn’t a wine to relax into; rather, it’s at the top of its game, demanding that you, too, stay on your toes.

The palate begins on a cool note, sharp lemon pushing through a luxuriously slippery mouthfeel. The middle palate is marginally wider in line, though one could never describe this as loose. Fine, tight acid supports a flavour profile that is one part lemon and three parts savoury complexities. Intensity is very impressive, a sharp lift of citrus fruit through the after palate particularly striking in this regard. Oatmeal, hessian and nuts take over as the palate moves towards its close, the finish itself showing good extension and an even, elegant diminuendo.

An excellent wine, full of quality winemaking and fruit in equal measure. This makes a very convincing argument for a particular view of Tasmanian Chardonnay.

Stefano Lubiana Wines
Price: $A60
Closure: Stelvin
Source: Sample