Tag Archives: Nebbiolo

September 22, 2020 · 12:12 pm

The Vincast with Fred Pizzini from Pizzini Wines

For the past 30 years the Pizzini family have been at the forefront of Italian grape variety based wines, not only in the King Valley where they are based, but for the whole country. Working with respected viticulturist Mark Walpole and Tuscan consultant Alberto Antonini, they established a stronghold and pedigree for varieties like sangiovese and nebbiolo. Much of the success of Pizzini Wines is owed to Fred Pizzini, who not only converted the family property to viticulture, but also saw the potential of embracing his Italian heritage by planting then unknown and untested varieties. They are today considered not only one of the largest but also most experienced producers of wines made from Italian varieties, now made by Fred’s son Joel.

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Fred Pizzini from Pizzini Wines

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Video

Let’s Taste – Topper’s Mountain ‘Bricolage Rouge’ & Wild Ferment Nebbiolo 2014

Completing a series looking at new releases from Topper’s Mountain are two reds that are quite intriguing. I’m excited to look at Topper’s Mountain wines for a number of regions. Firstly they are from a wine region that you don’t see very often. Secondly they are working with some very interesting alternative varieties. Thirdly they are making the wines in sometimes experimental ways, and blending varieties that don’t often get blended together. Let me know what you think of my impressions of these wines below, and please get in contact if you’d like to submit samples.

Wines tasted;
Topper’s Mountain ‘Bricolage Rouge’ 2014 – RRP $30.00
Topper’s Mountain Wild Ferment Nebbiolo 2014 – RRP $38.00

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October 3, 2018 · 12:28 pm
March 20, 2018 · 11:10 am

The Vincast LIVE with Ben Ranken & Dan Buckle – What are the right grape varieties for Australian wine?

Late in 2017, in conjunction with Ear Buds, I held the first edition of The Vincast Live at Noisy Ritual in Brunswick East and on Facebook Live. Two former guests of The Vincast – Ben Ranken from Galli Estate (Episode 127) and Dan Buckle (Episode 67) from Chandon Australia – joined myself and co-host Nevena Spirovska (Quickie Podcast) to talk about grape varieties in Australia: what are they, why are they, where are they and what are the best ones? I hope you enjoy this chat, as much as the live audience did. Please provide us with some feedback and interest in a future edition.

Follow James on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook

Subscribe to the Intrepid Wino channel on YouTube and watch a few videos!

Follow The Vincast on Twitter and download all the previous episodes here

Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, Stitcher, PlayerFM, Podbean or iHeartRadio, and don’t forget to rate and review!

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Ben Ranken, Dan Buckle, Nevena Spirovska and myself

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Vino Intrepido 2017 Part Four – Blend & Bottle

A little late to the party (vintage 2018 is almost over already), but I got there eventually. Here’s the fourth and final video on the 2017 vintage for Vino Intrepido, finishing the wine and getting it into bottle.

The vermentino and nero d’avola components were racked and blended in September 2017, and bottled not long after that. The nebbiolo was racked and blended in October, returned to barrel, then racked and bottled in January 2018.

Find out more about all of the 2017 wines here!

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March 8, 2018 · 12:03 am
Video

Vino Intrepido 2017 Part Three – The Press

Increasing the volume of fruit for this vintage meant a lot more pressing. Luckily that was largely automated thanks to the pneumatic press, but there was quite a lot of manual labour required, bucketing solids into the press. Six separate skin-contact ferments were all press at different times, and every time the press needed to be cleaned. The pressing program was as follows;
– One of two tonnes of Riverland Vermentino were fermented on skins in two separate ferments. One was pressed immediately after the completion of fermentation, spending a total of nine days on skins. The other was pressed twelve days later, spending a total of three weeks on skins. Both were transferred to neutral white barriques for ageing.
– One tonne of Mildura Nero d’Avola was de-stemmed and split into two fermenters. After only two days of fermentation one half-tonne was pressed and completed fermentation in a stainless steel tank, whilst the other half-tonne completed fermentation on skins but was pressed soon after, a total of 10 days on skins. Each press went to a 300L mature hogshead barrel for ageing.
– Two tonnes of Pyrenees nebbiolo were de-stemmed and split in half. Both finished fermenting on skins. Nothing was added or removed from these ferments. One tonne was pressed after 15 days on skins, the other spent 56 days on skins. They were split between 2010 and 2012 vintage barriques.

Vino Intrepido is a (soon to be launched) brand that combines great Italian grape varieties with great Australian wine regions and growers, experimenting with different winemaking techniques to bring you delicious wine! If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch via email on vinointrepido@gmail.com

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July 5, 2017 · 8:24 am
Video

Vino Intrepido 2017 Part Two – Fermentation

The 2017 vintage was very prolonged, and each of the three varieties finished fermenting before the next one arrived. The fermentations were as follows;
– Two tonnes Riverland Vermentino were split in half – one tonne was pressed and one tonne de-stemmed for skin-contact fermentation. Half of the pressed juice was transferred to neutral barriques for barrel-fermentation, the rest fermented in stainless steel. The two skin-contact ferments had a neutral commercial yeast added to help them through ferment.
– One tonne of Mildura Nero d’Avola was de-stemmed and split into two fermenters. After only two days of fermentation one half-tonne was pressed and completed fermentation in a stainless steel tank, whilst the other half-tonne completed fermentation on skins. Due to the low acids and high pH, tartaric acid was added to help balance the wine.
– Two tonnes of Pyrenees nebbiolo were de-stemmed and split in half. Both finished fermenting on skins. Nothing was added or removed from these ferments.

Vino Intrepido is a (soon to be launched) brand that combines great Italian grape varieties with great Australian wine regions and growers, experimenting with different winemaking techniques to bring you delicious wine! If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch via email on vinointrepido@gmail.com

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July 4, 2017 · 11:20 am
Video

Vino Intrepido 2017 Part One – Processing the fruit

To say that the 2017 vintage was different to the 2016 vintage would be one of the biggest understatement ever. Just speaking personal circumstances, this year not only did I finish up with my employer of over three years and start with a new importer/wholesaler, I also welcomed the arrival of my first child! Considering the location I made my wine at this year is a lot further from home than last year, I wasn’t able to be at the winery as much this year. Then I ended up increasing production from one tonne to five tonnes! I also worked with three new varieties; vermentino, nero d’avola and nebbiolo. Finally, the 2017 vintage was late and long; first grapes arrived on the 19th of March and last were the 24th of April!
On this Part One video I process all the fruit. Processing involves the intake of grapes, and making the first decisions for the wine (whether to press, whether to de-stem, whether to do neither). This is all before the fermentation begins and it transitions towards wine.
Vino Intrepido is a (soon to be launched) brand the combines great Italian grape varieties with great Australian wine regions and growers, experimenting with different winemaking techniques to bring you delicious wine! If you are interested in finding out more, please get in touch via email on vinointrepido@gmail.com

Ricca Terra Farms – http://riccaterrafarms.com.au
Chalmers – https://www.chalmers.com.au
Malakoff Vineyard – https://www.facebook.com/Malakoffestatevineyard/

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May 25, 2017 · 4:58 pm
Video

Let’s Taste – Amato Vino Teroldego & Nebbiolo 2014

Not for the first time, I’m tasting wine made by Brad Wehr from Amato Vino, who was a guest on Episode 58 of my wine podcast The Vincast. Unlike last time, I’m tasting wine Brad made from Margaret River fruit, but they are both Italian grape varieties. Please let me know what you think in the comments below, and be sure to check out the episode of The Vincast with Brad!

Wines tasted;
Amato Teroldego 2014 – RRP $40.00
Amato Nebbiolo 2014 – RRP $40.00

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February 11, 2017 · 10:32 am
Video

Let’s Taste – Dirty Black Denim

I’ve been in contact with Lawrence Scanlon from Dirty Black Denim for a while through social media, but it wasn’t until recently that I finally met him in person. He and his brother make a range of wines, focused particularly on Italian grape varieties, and I’ve been hassling him to try some of them. I was thrilled to finally be able to do so with two of the recently released 2016 wines. Let me know what you think in the comments below!

Dirty Black Denim 2016 wines

Dirty Black Denim 2016 wines

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June 29, 2016 · 3:22 pm
Video

Let’s Taste – Liquid Rock ‘N’ Roll Nebbiolo 2013 WITH Vegetarian Lasagne

Recent guest on The Vincast Podcast Alex Byrne gave me a bottle of his Nebbiolo 2013, made from fruit grown in the Heathcote region, under the Liquid Rock ‘N’ Roll brand. I thought I might try a wine and food pairing exercise, as I was having a plate of vegetarian lasagne. What do you think is the best pairing wine for lasagne??

Liquid Rock 'N' Roll Nebbiolo 2013

Liquid Rock ‘N’ Roll Nebbiolo 2013

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February 3, 2016 · 4:20 pm