My story
The Lubiana family have been making wine in Italy since the late 1800’s in the northwest of Italy (today Croatia) , Andrea Lubiana left his family vineyard in Istria and moved his winemaking life from Northern Italy to South Australia for a new life after World War Two. In South Australia Andrea’s winemaking continued and was taken over by his son Mario Lubiana. Steve Lubiana was the next winemaker to continue the legacy and moved to Tasmania in 1990 to produce fine wines from cool climate varietals. After finishing high school I undertook a bachelor of Oenology and Viticulture at the University of Adelaide and graduated in 2018, during my time in Adelaide I worked for East End Cellars for two years where my palate was fine tuned to quality fine wines of France and Italy thanks to Michael Andrew Arthur and the team. Finishing university I was left with a strong interest in Burgundy, I went on to find an internship in Cote d’Or for the 2019 vintage. The experience was great and looking forward to another European vintage in 2020.
My approach
Growing up on a vineyard I have seen the change in viticulture from conventional to biodynamics and from this have always been interested in this type of viticulture and winemaking. I continue to learn more each day from books, my father and personal observations. I believe a lot of knowledge from the past vine growers of ancient times who spent countless hours in the vineyard noticing small changes in the vines with our cosmos have been lost and replaced today with science and chemicals. Like my father and many other notable vignerons around the world have said 90% of the wine quality is from the vineyard and the remaining 10% is from the winemaking. My winemaking techniques are therefore simple, pumps are used for ferments and after that gravity takes preference. Cold humid cellar temperatures during maturation allow for a slow evolution of the wine which i believe is a necessity to produce quality wine. Sulfur is a tool my father has taught me well to be careful with, I use the least amount of sulfur as possible or none in some cases without losing freshness and longevity of my wines. I only buy the best corks and bottles to give my wines the best condition possible to mature in your cellar.
Marco Lubiana
Wine Reviews
Dark cherry, clod earth, spice, dried roses, a bit of lift. It’s ripe and earthy, blood plum, dried herbs, distinct ‘mineral’ feel, rich silty tannin, an amaro bite dusted with cocoa, bright and rich at once with a stony cherry pip finish of excellent length. Character plus. Natty, but nice. It’s a terrific expression of Pinot Noir. 95 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front March 2020
I liked it straight away. It’s saline and nutty, ripe lemon, cut fennel, a quiet perfume. Bright and zesty, but with an almost milky oatmeal softness, fine chalk dust texture, ginger and pink grapefruit, brine and grilled nuts on a long cool finish. So stylish and lovely to drink, not forced. Beautiful. 95 points. Gary Walsh, The Wine Front March 2020
A powerful, complex chardonnay and a stunning Vosne-like pinot noir. Star quality. Nick Stock 2020
It’s got brine, salty minerally, graphite, flint, cap-gun – there’s a popcorn glint in the eye of the peach and the nectarine and red apple seem a fine pair. They’ve got white choc drops in their pockets. It drinks like a Burgundy until it hits the midpalate, then all that funk, that ‘extra-ness’, it whips around to look at me straight on, and what I’m looking at… it is pure fruit. Unadulterated, pure, fine fruit. This is New World through and through. The acidity is cleansing and does what it can to sweep me off my feet. The palate is silky, viscose, velvet-like. The length of flavour is long. I am all about the pleasure this wine offers… it is immense. Yet so fine. 96/100 Erin Larkin 2020
A cloudy ruby in the glass, the nose writhes in eddies of sour cherry, Szechuan peppercorn, red apple skin, a hint of coffee bean and plenty of blood and salt. This has a lithe meatiness about it; a finely shaved prosciutto character that is tempered by a cranberry jelly side. The texture is super fine – it possesses a silty tannin profile, and the red liquorice vibe that loiters around the edge of the boundaries almost makes me think of Booj. I like it – a lot. I wasn’t immediately transported to Tasmania, it holds some mystery about it, and I find that to be another reason for another sip. Yes. 95/100 Erin Larkin 2020