This week I am reviewing a classic from Tasmania. I haven’t been to Tasmania but it is high up on my bucket list because of all the great wines that come from this region. This is definitely the place to go to Australia if you love Pinot Noir, as the region is most well known for this variety.

I’ve mentioned before how lucky I am to have my brother’s wife who often comes over and brings amazing wines for me to try. I honestly don’t think I’d branch out enough if she didn’t! She’s always bringing Australian classics, interesting Italian and French wines over, and I am lucky enough to try them. All I have to do is cook for her and provide her with the Bachelor when it’s on…seems like a pretty good deal to me!

I tried this wine late last year and I’ve only just gotten around to reviewing it, but I knew I had to because it was something a bit different from what I usually drink. I think this might be the first Tasmanian wine that I’ve reviewed!

The wine that I’m reviewing is the Stefano Lubiana Primavera Pinot Noir 2017. Stefano Lubiana is a bit of a classic wine maker from the region, and it’s no wonder I loved his wine as he’s Italian! This Pinot Noir is their new take on the Pinot, a sort of experiment where every year they are trying to improve the characteristics. This is fine by me because this wine was delicious!

I’m not usually a fan of very fruity Pinot Noir as I often find it a little too overpowering. However, my friend loves drinking them, so she’s slowly got me trying them more often. I have to say, I am really coming around, and this one is no different.

Although this wine was quite fruity, it was also balanced with quite a dry finish. I haven’t had a dry Pinot Noir in a while, and whilst sometimes I am not a fan, I think this one had a lot to offer in its flavour! Because it was sweet at the start, the dry finish really brought it all together at the end. It made the wine really delicious!

I was intrigued by the colour of the wine too. It was quite dark and a deep, purple hue. This made me think that it was going to be quite a heavy wine, but it really wasn’t. It was quite elegant and as a whole the wine was very drinkable. I sometimes find wines that are really deep in colour are rich to taste, but this one wasn’t.

This wine is best enjoyed with food. Nothing super heavy but definitely a good meat dish like pork or lamb chops. It could also go quite well with a tomato-based pasta! I wouldn’t recommend drinking this before dinner though, it definitely needs some food to really bring out the flavours. I found when we had it with dinner it really opened up and complemented the food, but without the sweetness was a little overpowering.

This wine was really interesting and enjoyable to drink now, but it would also benefit from cellaring for 2-3 years if you can wait that long! I think it would allow the flavours to really develop and deepen, and perhaps mellow out some of the sweetness in the wine. What’s good about this wine is that you’ve got some options!

I haven’t always been the biggest fan of Pinot Noir, but it’s wines like these that make me think I should try them more. There is so much variety in this one grape type, and it’s great to see winemakers exploring the different flavours they can create with it.