The Auswine Forum

I drove thru a drop of rain or two up to Mildura last weekend and there were a few interestingg things at the Australian Alternative Varieties Wine Show held in Mildura last week.

Nebbiolo certainly stole the show. The trophies for best wine of the Show and Best Red and Best Italian Variety were all won by Pizzini wines for their 1998 Nebbiolo. In the Nebbiolo class 11 eligible entries were judged, of the six gained Medals, 2 gold, 2 silver and two bronze, A strike rate of 56%.

In the Sangiovese class 46 wines were judged for 2 gold, 4 silver, and 9 bronze 33% strike rate.

The other golds in these Italin Red classes were 2003 Mt Surmon Nebbiolo, and 2003 Cassella Wines Sangiovese and the 2003 University of Adelaide Sangiovese.

Perhaps the trouble taken to grow Nebbiolo is worth the effort, at least for some.

In the white wines the big surprise was Yellymong who won a gold for their Pinot gris frfom Swan Hill (or more correctly Murray Downs, over the river in NSW)

Cheers

I can see a future for sangiovese in this country, but I can't see it for nebbiolo. Just my point of view!

The point is that Nebbiolo has been regarded as a very difficult variety to grow and make wine from. This is related to the rather exacting climatic requirements for optimal ripening. Nebb needs a long growing season (Heat summation above 1500 degree days) combined with low temperatures in the last month before maturity. Hence the selection of sites with appropriate microclimates is very important. So Nebb will probably never be a major variety by volume.

Sangiovese on the other hand is able to produce quality fruit in a much wider range of climates. It therefore has the potential to become a widely planted variety like Shiraz.

So Jack you are right, Sangiovese has a bigger future in Australia. But for mine a great Nebbiolo is worth the effort.