“It’s a no-brainer for me,” says Alpha box & Dice winemaker Sam Berketa. “You’ve heard it before, but these varieties are more drought tolerant, water efficient, higher yielding and they just make damn interesting wines that are lighter and more attractive. Barely anyone is drinking the big, bold wines of Australia past – the dinosaurs are going extinct, and these varieties are the future.”
“Barely anyone is drinking the big, bold wines of Australia past – the dinosaurs are going extinct, and these varieties are the future.”
Italy’s marquee red grapes, sangiovese and nebbiolo, have had a meaningful presence in this country for a little while, with sangiovese arriving in the 1970s, but it was McLaren Vale’s Coriole that made it a serious commercial prospect after planting vines in 1985. Nebbiolo came a little later, but its identity was established here as the 20th century clicked over into the 21st, with it now a firm pillar of Italian grapes in this country.
In the earlier days of nebbiolo here, many producers were chasing wines that echoed the great wines of Barolo and Barbaresco, from the grape’s homeland of Piedmont. And while Berketa makes a suitably savoury, structured version that sees about 200 days of skin contact, like many makers he is also just as interested in showing another side to the grape.
“With wines like the Spring Release ‘Fog’ Nebbiolo, we looked at the high quality of fruit we had coming in and went, let’s do something different, something that excites us,” says Berketa. “So, unlike our usual way of employing extended maceration, we pressed it off early and aged the wine in old, large-format oak and the result was something which I describe as being super charming and alluring – bright, fresh but with a depth that shows the quality of the grapes.”
That approach shows a growing confidence in working with the variety, and indeed across the spectrum of Italian varieties – we now have dozens that are widely planted and productive – free from their historical context while still respecting the properties of the grapes. We’ve come a long way from treating all the whites like riesling and all the reds like shiraz, and also from trying to imitate the classics.
“At the end of the day, we are not about trying to re-create a traditional Italian-style wine,” says Liv Maiorana of South by South West. “We don’t attempt to make a Barolo/Barbaresco styled wine with our nebb, or a Chianti style with our sangio, instead we are trying to create something new by giving these wines an Aussie accent, while also showing off what can come from Italian fruit in this amazing south-west corner of Australia.”
Maiorana and Mijan Patterson’s South by South West is based in Margaret River, with grapes sourced across Western Australia’s south-west. “Currently our portfolio includes a whole bunch sangiovese, a lighter and bright styled nebbiolo, a blush pinot grigio, a field blend that showcases arneis, and also our take on a Super Tuscan,” says Maiorana, who also notes that they are planting fiano and nero d’avola in a site in Margaret River’s south, with grillo and frappato on the drawing board – it’s an investment that is being mirrored across the country.
“Our mantra is all about perfecting old concepts and playing with new ideas,” says Maiorana. “In Italy there are laws restricting what can be planted and where, and to some degree, how wines are to be made and should be cellared. Fortunately, we can explore how different varieties express themselves in their unique terroir, as well as employ and use non-traditional winemaking techniques. This drive to experiment, my ancestral links, winemaking experience in Italian regions, and our overall love for Italian wine has been, and continues to be, our inspiration.”
“We think varieties that suit future conditions are ultimately a driver of both sustainability and success.”
For many, those connections would be enough, but the reasoning runs much deeper than that. “In our opinion, we think varieties that suit future conditions are ultimately a driver of both sustainability and success,” says Maiorana. “The increasing motivation of sustainable grape-growing and winemaking practices, including planting vines that need less water and are less susceptible to disease make this a no brainer for us to adopt and run with.”
The natural balance in many Italian varieties is also a bonus for the kind of low-intervention winemaking that Maiorana and Patterson employ. “Natural acid is important to us not just for the taste of the wine, but the fact that natural acid balance make for more stable wines, meaning less intervention and additions in the winery, which we are all about,” note Maiorana.
That’s a view that is shared by Berketa. “My winemaking is built on the acid that these Italian varieties retain, using it as the backbone of my wines and fleshing out the palate using traditional, low-intervention methods,” he says. “Techniques like whole-bunch fermentation in varying percentages, extended maceration, lees ageing and old, large-format oak help with the process, and I find these varieties to be super responsive to that.”
McLaren Vale has been something of cradle for alternative grapes, with the warmer Mediterranean climate proving to be prime territory for many Italian grapes. Alex Sherrah has his own eponymous label, with nero d’avola and fiano major features, but his experience with emerging varieties goes back somewhat further.
“When I worked at Coriole, we had about 17 varieties in the ground,” says Sherrah. “This gave me a fantastic opportunity to see which ones really worked well in McLaren Vale. Generally, it was the later ripening red varieties that were best suited to our climate, things like nero d’avola and montepulciano. They are quite heat tolerant and ripen quite slowly while retaining their natural acidity. They are also ready after the avalanche of shiraz and cabernet have been picked and processed, so you can really focus outside the very busy period.”
In addition to red grapes, Italy has granted the Vale an opportunity to make white wines of distinction. With less than ten per cent white grapes in the region, and most of that the generally unsuitable chardonnay, grapes like fiano have created a new path to make balanced and characterful wines. Sherrah makes three versions, from a fresh tank-fermented style to a pét-nat and a skin-contact version.
“Fiano is my favourite variety to work with in McLaren Vale,” says Sherrah. “It is all about the natural high acidity but requires the inherent texture locked in the skins to balance it out. Varying amounts of skin contact, be it just from machine harvesting or leaving on skins for weeks, all achieve this. Since its first production by Coriole in 2005, it has spread around the country, with examples coming out of almost every region. This shows how well suited it is to our climate.”
Berketa believes that Italian varieties are “part of the region’s identity now”, but they have found just as exciting homes from other regions he works from. “The Adelaide Hills is such a premium place for Italian varieties and there are some amazing matchups for single site variety expression,” he says. “Langhorne Creek is producing some amazing Italian grapes. And Italian varieties have put the Riverland back on the map, breathing new life into the region. I think Coonawarra could do some amazing things with Italian varieties – that terra rossa and limestone doesn’t have to apply exclusively to cabernet and friends.”
Victoria has welcomed more Italian immigrants than any other state, and that is clearly felt in a Victorian sensibility to wine and food. That connection runs deep, from the urban centres to rural Victoria, with areas like the King Valley having a strong Italian identity, with many former tobacco farming families embracing grapes, and increasingly Italian grapes, with the region now home to the “Prosecco Road” and the highest concentration of the grape in the country.
The Murray Darling, which straddles Victoria and New South Wales, is home to one of the great champions of Italian grapes, with the Chalmers family responsible for importing much of the vine material that is planted across the country. With near to 40 Italian varieties in nursery stock (though some are yet to be released), the Chalmers have also imported numerous clones to increase diversity, including 14 clones of sangiovese and 10 of nebbiolo, while even dolcetto has six cultivars.
That resource has enabled the rapid expansion of Italian grapes in this country, where previously small selections were brought in by individuals, or the CSIRO for research. “Italian varieties are being planted in more regions and increasing in production volumes,” says Sherrah. “They are much better suited to our warmer regions than some of the classic French varieties that were originally planted. I think they are vital to the future of our industry as climates warm and water becomes a more finite resource. New varieties will continue to be experimented with and not all will work, but at least the industry is trying new things and looking for ways to future-proof ourselves.”
And while there is a great emphasis on seeking out varieties that work both now and in a warming climate, the wines need to continually engage consumers. It’s a not something Berketa sees as an issue, given the amount of scope they allow a maker to work in creative and interesting ways.
“The styles we are producing with these varieties are also much better suited to the kinds of cuisine we eat these days, rather than pairing a heavy shiraz or cab with lunch and needing a sleep afterwards, you can probably have two bottles of Italian varieties and still get on with the day reasonably clear headed!”
“Alternative/emerging or whatever you’d like to call them are part of our DNA at Alpha Box & Dice, and Italian varieties form the core of what we love to work with,” says Berketa. “We aim to continually improve and refine the way we make our wines. To be stagnant is boring, and there’s so much opportunity for experimentation. I certainly drink a wide range of different wines, so why would I pigeonhole our wines into a set style?”
Indeed, Maiorana believes that the consumers are helping to drive the experimentation and shift in styles, with our immersion in food and wine culture as part of everyday life – there’s that Italian influence again – seeing a formerly conservative market now not just accepting but encouraging. “Consumers have been subconsciously driving this by getting on board with their willingness to try new varieties and styles, which has created hype and interest in what is seen as the ‘alternative wine’ market,” she says.
It’s a view echoed by Sherrah, who finds that consumers are eager for new experiences. “Even if they haven’t heard of a variety or style, people are open-minded and willing to try the wines,” he says. “The styles we are producing with these varieties are also much better suited to the kinds of cuisine we eat these days, rather than pairing a heavy shiraz or cab with lunch and needing a sleep afterwards, you can probably have two bottles of Italian varieties and still get on with the day reasonably clear headed!”
The alcohol on this pét-nat, which is similar to the traditional Col Fondo styles of the Veneto, is surprisingly low, sitting at 10.5%, but that’s not something that really presents in the glass, with ample flavour of green apple, Williams pear and white florals. What that cooler ripeness does is take away the overt fruitiness of the grape and give it a little savoury tension, which is backed up by the pulpy texture of this cloudy, textural expression.
See Cavedon for purchase enquiries.
This is and 80/20 blend of vermentino and moscato giallo, with a long time on skins, then bottled un-fined and unfiltered, with no sulphur added. The unfiltered element is pretty easy to spot here, with an appearance resembling cloudy apple juice. The nose is directed by the moscato, with very aromatic notes of talc, exotic florals, preserved ginger and mandarin peel in a distinctly grapey cast. There’s plenty of texture, without being super grippy, giving this an appealing softness that knits in with the pulpy unfiltered mouthfeel and gentle chew of tannin, those grapey flavours and orange-skinned citrus rind rounding out the finish.
See Pool Wines for purchase enquiries.
Brassy in colour, an intriguing mix of wild herbs, pickled jalapeño, carraway, clove, linseed and wild grasses lift on the nose; underneath, notes of dried apple, pear and citrus rind fill out the profile. This is a savoury wine, but it’s not extreme, with the skin contact rubbing out any overt fruitiness, marshalling in spicy and dry herbal lift and tightening the palate with present but fine grapey tannins carrying the wine along with gentle but influential acidity.
See Quealy for purchase enquiries.
From the Branson Road Vineyard, this is a flavourful but intense wine, with buoyant fruit flavours, texture and racy line in equal measure. Notes of crisp golden apple, lemon leaves, almond blossom, cool ripeness white stone fruit and a briny maritime waft greet the nose. While on the palate, a textural flex is given more savouriness with a subtle salinity, with a vigorous but never aggressive line of acidity dragging the flavours long and persistent.
See Sherrah for purchase enquiries.
This has a super bright nose of crushed golden and green apples, Packham pear and custard apple, accented with notes of jasmine and honeysuckle. This is bright and fresh but with plenty going on in terms of flavour, and the palate has similar subtle complexity, with a gentle apple-skin grip tugging in the fruit and textural play in concert with zippy acidity, finishing clean, bright and ultra-refreshing.
See Rollick for purchase enquiries.
This is super bright and zippy, with a melange of citrus with green, orange and yellow skin versions taking the stage, a suggestion of white stone fruit behind, white florals and a savoury accent complexing. There’s a suggestion of oak, not new though, giving this subtle complexity, a gentle chewy of grapey tannin and ultra-bright acidity.
See Travail for purchase enquiries.
Bright light golden colour, this is redolent of summer flowers, orchard fruits, smoky figs, citrus and cut green herbs, with faintly waxy honeyed notes and a squirt of ginger juice, suggesting a little skin contact. That skin note seems confirmed on the palate with a gentle chew of grapey tannin reining in the textural palate, bright acidity working in concert to leave an equal impression of generosity and freshness.
See Vino Intrepido for purchase enquiries.
There’s a typical varietal expression of sangiovese to this, with cherry characters to the fore, in both a sour red and macerated black cherry vein, along with that come notes of spiced salted plum, woodsy herbs and an amaro/sarsaparilla vibe. The tannins are pithy and furry, clearly extracted from skins and stems, with oak a distant consideration. There’s acid race and grip in equal measure here, buoying the bright fruit flavours. This is bright and fresh, but it’s a wine that asks for food.
See South by South West for purchase enquiries.
This is very aromatic, with notes of crushed mulberries and blackberries accented with blue floral notes and a spike of sage, tarry bitumen detail adding savoury complexity. There’s a pleasing fruit sweetness to this, but it ripples with acidity and those floral nuances give it considerable freshness and verve, wild-fruited flavours tumbling through the vibrantly fresh finish.
See Nature of the Beast for purchase enquiries.
There’s a classic intensity to this, but also a bright freshness, as is typical of nero d’avola grown in the right place. Dark and red cherries, black plums and ripe red berries lead the way an intense but relatively elegant expression, with a dusting of dark spices and dried herbs. The mix of flavour and freshness is echoed on the palate with a gently supple richness tightened with fine, ripe tannins and marshalling acidity.
See Sherrah for purchase enquiries.
This is built in a bright spectrum, but it’s super classic with it. Aromas of dried cherries and cranberries are paired with notes of warm terracotta and dried flowers, with a hint of varietal seriousness never getting in the way of the juicy, sour-edged drinkability of the wine. It’s made for food, but that could just as easily be in the park with salumi as it might with a more serious feast.
See Alpha Box & Dice for purchase enquiries.
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