PS – watch Tyler take over this episode.

Primo Estate Cellar Door Complex

Joe has been known for many things in his career to date.  Using botrytis infection to produce the wine gems that are known today.  He has also linked very firmly to Italian heritage from experimenting with Amarone and Ripasso treatments of the wine grapes, some of the first extra virgin olive oils (EVO) and an aged vinegar.  Joe also takes a yearly pilgrimage to Italy where he produces Italian wine from Italian grapes with Australian know how.  These wines are released in a special event every year.

Apart from a beautifully styled cellar door complex, they hold the Joseph Experience where you can taste some of the Joseph range of wines with some locally made bread plus the Joseph EVO) – costs $10 which is refunded if you buy any of the wines tasted.  This tasting is very popular so I recommend you book so to avoid disappointment.

Wine club membership entitles you to 10% discount on most wines and invitations to wine dinners and other events plus a phone call every now and then offering some special deals.  membership costs nothing – so why not.

A link to the Primo Estate Wines web page is here.

Now the wines…….

NV Primo Secco ($A20)

Released for only 1 week – I felt my timing was spot on.  The wine has been loosely styled on the Prosecco style.  Made with 30% Colombard the wine shows tropical and melon aromas with nice melon flavors and a creamy finish.  This wine is made for easy drinking as it is light and refreshing.  I can see this being another winner for this stable.

2010 La Biondina ($A15)

Straight away I was very happy to see this wine had gone back to it’s roots.  Gone was the blending with Sauvignon Blanc and thus is back to a straight Colombard.  As per my previous tasting of the wine over many years it is a clean and crisp wine that I consider to be the best Colombard made in Australia – with apples, tropical fruits and an underlying minerality.

2010 The Venetian Garganega ($A25)

I have never seen or heard of this variety before – let alone taste it.  As the name suggests the wine was made in Tuscany under the keen eye of Joe.  I got some interesting floral and citrus aromas and the flavors were, well just so complex from such a series of light flavors.  There was peach, minerality creamy mouthfeel and even though it seemed relatively low acidity the flavors just lasted so long.  I believe this is the first release of this variety and I suggest it will not be the last.

2009 The Tuscan Shiraz Sangiovese ($A28)

The second of the Tuscan wines and this one is beauty as well.  The aromas were lifted with floral notes, black fruits, dusty oak and a coconut finish.  The flavors show complexity again – briary black fruits, olives, cardamon that lingers with vanilla plus coconut from the oak that just licks the palate.  So different (as you would expect) from the below wine.

2009 il Briccone Shiraz Sangiovese ($A25)

Black Cherries mixed with spiced earthiness and cedary oak.  Another good wine that needs time to really come together and show it’s best.

NV Joseph Sparkling Red ($A70)

Those regular readers of the Lonely Grape will know I am a Sparking Red fan – when done well.  This wine has a huge reputation and I was so looking forward to trying it again – last time was over 10 years ago.  The base wine here is drawn from a solera system started in 1988.  The system adds new wines to the top barrels and the wine is made from the lowest barrels,  As wine is drawn off wine in barrels above  are added and so on up the barrel system (see a definition of Solera System here).  The base wines are made from Moda (Cabernet merlot) and Shiraz with a very old port used and the top up liqueur.

There is so much aged complexity here – nutty, coffee and those developed characters you see in old red wines.  One can also taste the port liqueur that just adds another layer of complexity.  I will say, for my palate, this wine lacks some freshness that could be gained from some more newer wine added to the blend.  I can imagine many wine people thinking this is wrong – but it is my palate.

2007 Nebbiolo ($A75)

Made from Clarendon Vineyard grapes and shows some influence from a visiting overseas winemaker who had spent time working in Barolo (where this variety is king).  The wine shows minimal skin contact as the wine is lighter than “normal” and one can see the wine browning relatively quickly.  Fast becoming a favorite of mine – the aromas of burnt orange, cinnamon, all spice and turkish delight.  The turkish delight continued in the flavor profile that included violets, range of spices – all wrapped up in a savory finish.  I so enjoyed this wine and I will be visiting this variety more in the future.

2008 Angle Gully Shiraz ($A65)

Quality Clarendon fruit here, showing that quality wine can be made from such a hot and difficult vintage that was 2008.  Dark and concentrated with spices, dark plums combining well with the oak treatments.  What stuck me here was the underlying minerality here that I do not normally associate with Shiraz.  I can see this wine aging better that I will.

2009 Zamberlan Cabernet Sangiovese ($A28)

I was again luck to taste this wine as it has not been released as yet.  Interestingly, this wine undergoes the Ripasso treatment ie the 2009 wine is passed though skins from the 2010 pressings (in this case the 2010 Moda – Casbernet Merlot).  The aromas show a list that I find when drinking this style.  The flavors show the black current that is cabernet but there is a depth brought on by the ripasso treatment.  As you would expect this wine needs time to bring all the components together.  Watch out for it when it gets released.

2008 La Magia Botrytis Riesling Traminer ($A25)

For those that say this wine style is not worthy – you need to try this.  Aromas that are all floral – orange blossom, roses and honeysuckle combine so well.  The flavors are what you expect – citrus and apricots with a real sweetness.  What does strick you here is the understanding the wine is very sweet but not cloying – this wine has lots of acid that just cleans the mouth.  Bring on the dried fruit and blue cheese platter.

The wines are very different in a positive way.  When I was offered a Dolcetto as the first wine to taste from his range, I was concerned as in my very limited experience with this variety it was sweet wine style.  How wrong I was!  The wines show an overall structure with selected fruit parcels (the emphasis is on sourcing the correct fruit to produce a style) with old oak maturation in specially sourced oak barrels plus some funky treatments to produce experience wines.

The cellar door is open weekends and I recommend this as a visit  

Dead Winemakers Society 2008 Dolcetto ($A20)

The Dolcetto grapes comes from a Scott Hicks Kupito vineyard and is aged in old 500L puncheons.  The wine is a pleasant surprise with distinct orange peel aromas.  The low tannic nature of the wine strikes you the moment it hits the palate with the orange peel nature continuing with some fennel overtones and a eucalypt finish (the vineyard is surrounded with gum trees).  Oak plays only a minimum part on the flavour profile and there is long acid finish that is complementary to the rest of the flavours.  The wine is very dry wine that would go well with complex slow cooked food or the citrus nature would appeal to the duck lovers out there.

Fog 2006 Nebbiolo Cabernet Tanant ($A30)

The wine is made up of 80% Nebbiolo from Blewitt Springs and aged in old 500L oak puncheons, 10% McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon (aged in new french oak) and 10% Kupitto Tanant (also aged in new french oak).  The Nebbiolo had extended skins contact (4 weeks) and then a long time in barrel to ensure the different tannins to integrate.

The citrus characters continue on the nose - this time it is reminiscent of mandarin peel.  On the palate there is a fruit sweetness (though it is a dry wine) with lots of sour cherries.  There is a layering effect of tannins (grape tannins and oak tannins) probably assisted by the use of Tanant, fruit and citrus flavours, high volatile acid and high acids generally.  All of these components make this an enjoyable and complex wine.  Food matches would be the same as for the Dolcetta. 

Blood of Jupiter 2006 Sangiovese Cabernet ($A25)

The wine is made of 85% Sangiovese and 15% Cabernet Sauvignon – both from McLaren Vale.  The Sangiovese free run juice went straight into old oak pungeons and the Sangiovese pressings and the Cabernet Sauvignon went into new Burgundian Bariques and had extended time on the lees.

The nose showed the typical Sangivese earthy and peaty characters with distinct sour cherries.  These carry over onto the palate that has layers of fine tannins, oak char and fruit sweetness.  Again there is an almost viscous mouthfeel that is very pleasant.

Apostie 2008 Shiraz Durif ($A30)

The wine is made of 50% McLaren Vale Shiraz, 23% Barossa Shiraz and 27% Durif, that went into Burgundian Buriques of which 70% were new.  The first item of note for this wine is that it is 14.1% alcohol - the wine is neither a fruit or alcohol bomb.  The nose has elements of spice with red and black fruits – but is not typical of Shiraz I have drunk lately, it has a more refined and delicate.  The palate has lots of plums and layered tannins with a real lift due to the textural structure and wonderful acid.

Changing Lanes 2005 Tempranillo Cabernet ($A35)

An interesting mix of 50/50 blend of Margaret River Tempranillo with McLaren Vale Cabernet Sauvignon (from the Willunga foothills) – again the wine has seen Burgundian Bariques of which 70% were new.  Three years in oak and 1 year in bottle was required for Justin to be happy to release this wine.  Some Tempranillo funkyness came through on the nose.  On the palate was this fruit sweetness even though the wine would be considered dry.  Combining well with this fruitiness was layers of dry and dusty layers of tannins that was just starting to show some aged characteristics.  Another wine to buy and experieince a wine that is enjoyable but not main stream.

Up to now the wine was made at the Redheads Studio in McLaren Vale, which allowed small producers like Nick to work with their passion and get some assistance from experienced winemakers.  Unfortunately this facility is no longer operational.

The Nebb Front Label

The origin of the name is self explanatory, however the label may need some explaining.  Nick has a friend who is a “Reformed Street Artist” aka street grafity.  He took the The Nebb concept – that also means beak and extended this to Dr Schnabel von Rom.  The good doctor worked to rid the early 16th century England of the Plague.  Doctor von Rom was known to have a beak that was full of herbs to purify the air during his exploits.  These elements were brought together to produce what is rather a different label.

Nick also has the advantage to work in a cooperage and thus can get access to excellent barrels but he also understands the different elements in what makes barrels work for the Nebbiolo.  The grapes are processed in 4 batches – note that all ferments are done in old 500 L puncheons turned on their sides with an end removed:-

• warm ferment with the wild yeast ie left to its own devices
• fermented with a specific Barolo yeast
• cold soak (chill plates and dry ice added)
• standard ferment

The Nebbiolo comes from a vineyard in the Blewitt Springs area of McLaren Vale.  The first wine was made in 2005.

The wines have not been put into any wine shows but was put into The Adelaide Review Hot 100 South Australian Wines – and made the top 10.  Well done guys.

Both wines I tasted are available in small quantities and are both at $35/bottle.  If you are interested in the wines they are not found in bottle shops so check out the web site at www.nebbiolo.net.au.  I tasted these wines twice.  They were decanted for my initial tasting and then I tasted them again the next day.  I will add any differences on the second tasting in brackets.  I have not tasted a lot of Nebbiolo before and certainly none from Piedmont – I was in for a very pleasant surprise.

2006 The Nebb ($A35)

This wine has 34% Cabernet Sauvignon with the remainder of course Nebbiolo.  The wine shows some brown edges but Oh the nose (how interesting is this!)- mandarin peel and chocolates (with orange blossom with 24 hours breathing).  The palate has the mandarin peel, mulberries (with a balanced chocolate finish with 24 hours breathing).  The tannins are not as pronounced as the 2007 wine.  This is definitely a food wine, and something multidimensional like roast pork shoulder with apple sauce or chinese sizzling beef dishes.

2007 The Nebb ($A35)

The wine is 20% Cabernet – in line with the philosophy of reducing the Cabernet component.  This time I was ready for the browning wine, producing such a wonderful mandarin peel aroma this time with some floral (rose) hints.  The palate follows through with the mandarin peel and mulberries (dates and mocha comes through with 24 hours breathing).  There is plenty of dry dusty tannins which could give this wine a long life.  This would be interesting to pair up with a plate of soft cheese and cured meats with lots of crusty bread.