Pioneering Adelaide Hills winery Nepenthe has produced its first vintage of Spanish grape variety Albariño.
Albariño is a relative newcomer in Australia with plantings ranging from warm to hot regions such as the Barossa Valley to cool regions such as Northern Tasmania and the Adelaide Hills.
The variety, planted at Nepenthe's Hahndorf vineyard, is ideally suited to the cool climate and high rainfall of the Adelaide Hills. The regions diverse combination of aspect, slope and elevation results in vineyard sites with similar climatic conditions to the varieties native home, Galicia in Northwest Spain.
Commenting on the latest addition to the portfolio, Nepenthe viticulturalist Murray Leake said: “Nepenthe has developed a reputation for pioneering new and interesting varieties – we were the first producer in the Adelaide Hills to champion Pinot Gris and Zinfandel, and the addition of Albariño further signifies our commitment to driving innovation in the region. Adelaide Hills Albariño is still very much in the experimental phase, and the 2008 vintage will give us a clearer understanding of its 'typical' expression in this region.”
Nepenthe winemaker Michael Fogarty adds: “The 2008 Albariño was whole bunch pressed and fermented on partial solids in old French barriques. The wine is highly aromatic with delicate peach and grapefruit characters and is showing great balance, palate weight and length, which are all trademarks of the Nepenthe style.”
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