2014 Stefano Lubiana Grüner Veltliner

Stefano Lubiana

Australia / Derwent Valley / Stefano Lubiana

Vineyard blocks: 100% estate grown, hand-picked, single block.
Geology: Mix of grey gravelly loam over gravel and red loam over old riverbed.
Vineyard management: 100% certified biodynamic, hand-picked, then fruit is sorted by hand on our vibrating table.
Winemaking notes: After Steve’s vintage at Pittnauer in Austria in 2012, and seeing some exceptional examples of Grüner Veltliner, he had the crazy idea to graft some vines over to see how the variety would perform. Well, the wines have exceeded all expectations with Tasmania’s cool, mild climate seeming a perfect match for this aromatic and textural Austrian variety. It produces wines of lovely softness and balance but with aromatics more akin to German whites. Best of both worlds, really.
Wine notes: Inviting floral and citrus notes are displayed in a wine that is part Riesling and part Pinot Gris in texture & style.

March, 2016

Mike Bennie

The Wine Front

94 points

Biodynamically farmed gruner veltliner from Tasmania (possibly the second outside of Stoney Rise vineyard in Tamar Valley). It’s also spent time in Austrian oak casks. Adelaide Hills has had a decent run at the grape variety, certainly Tasmania, particularly the south, comes to mind as a decent place to grow and make wine with it. Stefano Lubiana is having a renaissance, or maybe just getting even better off a high platform.
While much gruner can disappoint, or just provide happy simple drinking, this kind of wine elevates the variety. It’s tightly structured, elegant and sleek across the palate, a mouthwatering, succulent wine of quiet complexity and high drinkability. Aromas of green grapes, tonic water, cucumber, faint root vegetables, fennel. In the palate, striking for energy and sultry drizzle of smoky-citrussy flavour with fine chalky bones. Beautiful wine.

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About Stefano Lubiana

Stefano Lubiana's sought-after wines are the result of a passionate quest for perfection, detail and uniqueness. Steve and Monique Lubiana’s approach focuses on organic principals, with innovative use of barrel and whole-bunch fermentation and wild yeasts to handcraft a distinctive range of wines. Located at Granton in the Derwent Valley, 20km north of Hobart and overlooking the spectacular tidal estuary of the Derwent River, the winery boasts a family winemaking legacy of more than 200 years. Certified biodynamic — Tasmania’s first

About

Steve Lubiana has always been surrounded by vines or wines. He was born in Melbourne, brought up in the Riverland and then settled in Tasmania. Over 25 years of winemaking in Granton he has developed the enviable reputation as one of the most innovative and progressive winemakers in Tasmania.
He and wife Monique started their vineyard with Chardonnay and Pinot Noir back in 1991 and through the years have added Pinot Gris, Riesling, Sauvignon Blanc and Merlot. Their devotion to biodynamic practices in the vineyard gives them the ideal fruit to work with in their modern, gravity-fed winery.