Top New Act For Veteran Vineyard

Marco Lubiana is a man of few words.

Relaxed and genial in the art of human conversation, the talented Tasmanian winemaker is never more forthright and articulate than when he’s talking about food and wine, friends and family.

It’s a different matter entirely when it comes to labelling and packaging his beautifully crafted Huon Valley wines. The text is minimalist and functional, simply the bare essentials he’s required to provide according to Australian Government regulation.

That comes as no surprise to those that are familiar with the 25-year-old maker of these critically acclaimed Lucille Vineyard wines. Each Chardonnay and Pinot Noir released to date speaks of its noble variety and its cool climate origins – the Lubiana family’s 10ha vineyard site at Cradoc, south of Hobart.

The Granton-born son of winemakers Monique and Steve Lubiana likes it that way. Indeed, he’d much rather his wines did all of the talking. Anything else would be just superfluous.

Less than two weeks have passed since Lubiana was named Best New Act in the 2021 Young Gun of Wine Awards and already his mind is on other things – a day or so of winery work, a bit of website tweaking and two weeks of downtime before winter pruning gets underway.

He’s not one for seeking the limelight or basking too long in personal or professional achievement. That fundamental to the genetic makeup of the entire Lubiana family. It’s not just wine that’s in their blood.

“We’re really sixth generation family farmers,” Steve Lubiana says with genuine modesty.

Marco Lubiana wine labels. Image courtesy CellarHand.

First established in 2007 by leading Melbourne wine communicator Rory Kent, the annual Young Gun of Wine Awards are intended to promote Australian wine labels and winemakers on the rise.

Marco Lubiana knew he’d caught the attention of award organisers when they released their 2021 list of Top 50 Winemakers at the beginning of April. Three other Tasmanians were also named as award contenders – Max Marriott (Anim Wine), Luke Monks (Made by Monks) and Greer Carland (Quiet Mutiny).

“These are winemakers that really have something to say and have a claim to stake on the Australian wine landscape,” Kent observed.

Lubiana would have had good reason to believe his name might be among the list of 2021 winners when the awards were announced on May 24. Fellow Huon Valley winemaker Jim Chatto was a finalist in the inaugural 2007 awards. D’Entrecasteaux Channel winemaker Jonny Hughes (Mewstone) and Gilli and Paul Lipscombe from the Huon (Sailor Seeks Horse) have all figured prominently during the past five years.

Wines from this cool part of Tasmania are clearly regarded as hot property by lovers of world-class Pinot Noir and Chardonnay.

May’s announcements saw McLaren Vale winemaker Sam Berketa (Alpha Box and Dice) being judged People’s Choice. Fellow South Australian Charlotte Hardy (Charlotte Dalton Wines) received ultimate acclaim as the 2021 Young Gun of Wine. Visit the awards website for details.

Lucille Vineyard, Cradoc. Image supplied.

National recognition and industry success have certainly come quickly to the young Lubiana. It’s been less than three years since the former University of Adelaide student completed his formal winemaking studies and returned to the family’s Derwent Valley home base.

The first wines produced under the Marco Lubiana label were only released in August 2020. They comprised a pigeon pair of wines from the excellent 2018 vintage in the Huon Valley.

“Both the Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were sourced from low-yielding, estate-grown vines that were at least 20 years old,” Lubiana explains.

“Lucille is the oldest vineyard in the Huon Valley. It was originally called Panorama Vineyard and was first planted by (the late) Steve Ferencz in 1973. When the Vishacki family bought it in 1995, more Chardonnay and Pinot Noir were added two years later. After my parents purchased the vineyard and winery in 2016, we put a huge amount of time and effort into re-working the site.

“In some cases that meant pulling out vines and re-planting. Others were grafted over to clonal selections much better suited to table wine production from our soil and ultra-cool climate. We’ve also introduced biodynamic vineyard management. The site is currently in conversion. We’re expecting it to be certified biodynamic during the year.”

Three generations of family winemaking – Marco, Steve and Mario Lubiana. Image courtesy Adrian Lander.

The 40-year-old vineyard may have been re-invigorated and given a new lease of life by the Lubiana family but there are some challenges that will always be difficult to overcome. Lucille was one of many vineyards in the Huon Valley and nearby Channel Region that were forced to abandon plans for their 2019 harvests due to the total loss of wine grapes that season.

“A really bad bushfire season in the south of the state caused all of our fruit to get smoked out,” Lubiana explains.

“No-one likes drinking smoke-tainted wines, so we were forced to leave our fruit in the vineyard. We couldn’t pick any of it for winemaking.

“Vintage in 2020 was pretty challenging too. It was very cool during summer and we had to wait quite a few weeks before our fruit was finally ripe. The wines are a little lighter than those from 2018 but they’re still very drinkable.

“This year’s wines are also lighter than 2018, but they’re shaping up pretty well. I’m really pleased with the 2021 Chardonnay. I have a feeling it’s going to be a bit of a sleeper and will really come good with some more time.”

Right now, time is a commodity the whiz-kid has in abundance for this new act in the Huon Valley. Watch this space.

Featured image above: 2021 vintage Chardonnay heading to barrel. Image supplied.

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Hobart’s Mark Smith wrote his first weekly wine column back in 1994. Now more than 1700 features and 25 years later, he continues to chart the successes of Tasmania’s small scale, cool climate wine industry with regular contributions to some of Australia’s leading industry publications.