About This Wine
A 50:50 blend of Chardonnay and Pinot Noir, predominantly estate-grown with some select parcels of Derwent Valley fruit. The home vineyard takes in two terroirs: grey gravelly loams over clay and red loam over gravel. The majority of this blend comes from the 2013 vintage with roughly 15% reserve wines sourced from the 2011 and 2012 vintages. The must was vinified in a blend of small oak, large oak and stainless steel and given full malolactic conversion. Made according to the méthode traditionnelle, with a minimum of two years on lees and one year on cork pre-release. The natural viticulture, low yields and incorporation of reserve wines create a sparkling wine that tastes fruit-pure, intense, rich, creamy and complex.
| Type | Champagne & Sparkling |
|---|---|
| Varietal(s) | Chardonnay |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | Tasmania |
| Brand | Stefano Lubiana |
| Vintage | NV |
Tasmanian Wine
The Tasmanian wine region is a cool climate region, the most southerly of all wine regions in Australia. Due to the lower temperatures, the area grows primarily Chardonnay, Pinot Noir and Sauvignon Blanc, with smaller plantings of Riesling, Pinot Gris and Cabernet Sauvignon.
“Having been to many wine tastings over the years, I can definitely say from a personal standpoint that Tasmanian Chardonnay and Pinot noir are always ones I look forward to trying if they are on the menu. They are almost always high calibre wines that can easily compete against what the rest of the world has to offer in these varietals.” Jason C. – World Wine.
While Tasmania makes great still wines, the exceptional Chardonnay and Pinot Noir also make for excellent sparkling wines.
More recent vintages since 2005 have been positively impacted by the effects of global warming. With slightly higher temperatures the grapes are ensured to ripen fully and produce more vibrant wine.
World Wine – Steve and Monique Lubiana have recently extended their portfolio of beautifully refined sparkling wines from their Granton Estate in Tasmania’s Derwent Valley, and their NV blend remains rock solid. It’s a beautifully expressive chardonnay pinot noir blend that upholds the tension of the 2011 base vintage and deepens it with the red apple fruit and toasty, spicy complexity of 2009 and 2010 reserves, half of which have been aged in large Austrian oak barrels. The current blend is a 2013 disgorged cuvée released in 2014, making for a particularly toasty and honeyed style, finished off neatly with less than 8g/L dosage. Tyson Stelzer Australian Sparkling Report 2016