Why you'll love this wine
On describing this alternative variety, Smithbrook Winemaker Ben Rector said: "Who doesn’t love Nebbiolo? I can't think of many wines that exhibit full bodied characteristics and structure, while maintaining such an elegant fruit profile with subtle aromatics. The variety has a tendency to produce a wide range of terroir driven styles, almost all featuring the unique rose petal, dark cherry aromatics, with a lighter coloured hue, but astonishingly complex and robust tannin structure that really sets it apart from other varieties popular in Australia just now."
Tasting Notes
Colour
Pale garnet, red ruby hues.
Aroma
Complex, dense, lifted aromas displaying intesne varietal character: black tar, dried florals, blue fruits, red liquorice and orange peel.
Palate
The palate exhibits heavy, dense ripe fruit, punching with serious weight and volume. Blue and black fruits are at the fore, with subtle oak influence rounding out the mouthfeel. A seriously structured, fruit dominant wine with big tannins that will continue to soften with bottle age.
Cellaring
With 18 months in oak, this wine is certainly approachable in its youth with cellaring potential of up to eight years in the right conditions.
Technical
vintage & winemaking
Vintage was unusually late in Pemberton, even after a hot and dry January and February. Whites showed flavour, texture and balance and the reds are as good (or perhaps even better) than we have ever made, with great colour, ripe flavours and soft tannins.
Fruit was handpicked, and delivered to the winery for gentle destemming, then crushed to a small fermenter. The skins are handled delicately throughout fermentation to minimise excessive extraction of the Nebbiolo tannins. The Nebbiolo fruit is left on skins for 14 days, before being gently pressed to larger format seasoned barrels, where it matured for 18 months before bottling.
Region
Pemberton
Variety
Nebbiolo
Analysis
- Alcohol: 14.0%
- pH: 3.32
- TA: 6.30 g/L
