2015 Vinea Marson Nebbiolo

Arguably the flagship wine from the Vinea Marson stable, this is one of the very few Australian Nebbiolo’s that clearly speaks of its variety mainly due to Mario’s experience in Italy and the fact that he treats his Nebbiolo in a very similar fashion to the Piedmontese – long, slow maceration post ferment on skins for 6 weeks, followed to 2 to 3 years in large format oak.
Bright translucent red core with a fading brick red hue. Fragrant dried rose petal, cherry and raspberry scents blossom from the glass complimented by dried herbs, earth and spicy amaro like notes. Supple and silky on entry, delicious dried cherry and raspberry flavours infused with dried herbs are trailed by some leather, tobacco and spicy earth characters. Slightly chewy tannins combine with nicely integrated acidity to form a long savoury finish.
Drink over the next 2-3 years.
Alc. 13.5%

Other Reviews….
Crushed, cold soak, post-fermentation maceration of almost 90 days, maturation in French and Slovakian oak barriques (15% new) for 12 months and then large format Slovakian botte for 12 months, fined and filtered. A mix of 12 clones contribute to this wine and, combined with the cool growing season of '15, the result is a most accomplished and complex nebbiolo. There's incredible depth of fruit flavour and layers of winemaking on show. But first to the perfume: rose petal, musk, sour cherry, anise and tobacco leaf. Tannins and acidity under control but lurking, a sheen of herbs and spiced-infused red berries. Come back to it and it has changed in the glass, a chameleon. Drink by 2035.
96 points
Jeni Port – James Halliday’s Australian Wine Companion

What an alluring creature this is. Australian Nebbiolo is often a lot more fruit forward that its Italian counterparts; but this wine nails the ethereal interplay of florals, earth and spice. A blind tasting would have been more likely to send me to Barbaresco in Northern Italy than Heathcote – what a joy it would have been to find out my mistake.
Dried rose petals and cherries, rhubarb spiced with star anise. There’s homemade raspberry cordial flecked with zested orange. Sensuous plum pudding spices (without the sweetness) evolve into fresh leather and savoury aromas of the Australian countryside – ferrous earth, the mineral tang of sun-baked rocks, hibiscus and eucalypt. Precise acidity and lots of tannin remind you that Nebbiolo demands to be taken seriously but the tannin is so perfectly ripe, it is only there for support. Drink with perfectly roasted duck, pan juices and braised red cabbage. Drink 2021-2040.
95 points
Nicole Bilson – Winepilot.com