Giaconda to join La Place de Bordeaux
The big news here at Giaconda this year is on an International level – after many years of having been told we should receive more International exposure and recognition, we have been approached by agents for La Place de Bordeaux (an association of French Négociants) to distribute Giaconda wines Internationally.
Giaconda will now be marketed Internationally (except Australia and New Zealand) by Établissements Jean-Pierre Moueix (JP Moueix). JP Moueix are one of the most prestigious négociants worldwide and own several prestigious Châteaux including La Fleur-Pétrus. For many years they were also part owners and managers of Château Pétrus. This is a real coup for Giaconda being a very important decision for JP Moueix who have never had a non-french wine label in their portfolio (excluding their own winery Dominus in Napa Valley California). It will certainly elevate Giaconda to another level on the world stage!
On top of this our 2021 Estate Vineyard Chardonnay has recently gained a perfect 100 points rating by the Robert Parker Wine Advocate. As reviewed by Erin Larkin, this is the first Australian white table wine to ever receive this rating. Erin comments “This is an unbelievable wine that will only grow in stature over the coming years.” Read more >
I do understand and appreciate that Giaconda has many loyal and longstanding Australian supporters. As such, the domestic quantity and availability of our wines will not change substantially, except for an inevitable price rise this year. The new arrangement with JP Moueix is simply a consolidation of our existing export allocations.
Many of you will be aware, we missed the 2020 vintage due to the summer bushfires. Since then we have experienced several mild vintages which has resulted in excellent quality, however our vineyard yields have been well below average. Unfortunately this vintage follows the same pattern with even lower yields and this has caused us to cancel the 2022 En Primeur pre-orders for the time being.
Later this year we will be releasing the 2022 Nantua Chardonnay, an exceptional wine made from a blend of Warner Vineyard and Estate Vineyard fruit. We will send an email reminder to our mailing list once this is available to order (mid September). The chardonnay will be accompanied by an excellent release of Nantua Shiraz and Nantua Roussanne with more information to be revealed at the time of release.
This brings me to the subject of Shiraz and Roussanne. For the 2021 and 2022 vintages our shiraz is a blend of Estate Vineyard plus Warner Vineyard fruit made in a combination of small oak barrels, large Boti cask and Amphorae. This is a very rich and complex wine, certainly among the best ever produced here at Giaconda. The other exciting news will be the return of Giaconda Roussanne, formerly named 'Aeolia'. This fruit is now grown at our Estate Vineyard and the first release will be from 2022 (to be offered during the April release next year).
I am continuing our experiments with Terracotta Amphora for fermentation and we are beginning to see great results from the extended maceration. This tends to bring much more complexity and depth from the long maceration. The result with our 2019 Nebbiolo (current release) is truly spectacular! This wine was made in Amphora for the first year and then matured in older French barrels. The resulting wine is in a very traditional Barolo style so please be sure to decant and give it plenty of air! The ultimate aim for this wine is to use an equal blend of Amphora and large traditional Boti casks. Future releases of this wine will certainly be exciting.
View wine offer and read the tasting notes >
Sincerely,
Rick Kinzbrunner
Announcing our 'in-conversion organic' status
01 March 2018Words by Casey White - Vineyard Manager
My first vintage is all but complete here at Giaconda. When I set foot through the front gates last winter I was quite nervous, yet excited to be tackling such a prestigious vineyard. I had always been aware of the great wines produced from this property but did not understand what really drove this level of quality from a vineyard perspective.
Rick had set me the main task of looking after all the vines and continuing to produce beautiful fruit, but also to take the Estate Vineyard to a certified organic status. This is something I am passionate about, having developed some organic and sustainable viticulture methods in my previous role.
Our initial visit from the team at Demeter Australia involved inspecting the vineyard soils to assess the levels of organic rich humus. They were pleased to find beautiful soils that have tested absolutely free of chemical residues, are rich in humus, and could confidently see the vineyard has been managed with an organic approach for many decades.
It is pleasing to announce our 'in-conversion organic' status under supervision of the Bio Dynamic Research Institute (BDRI) certification process and that we will be fully certified in the very near future.
Getting my hands dirty in the vineyard and seeing how healthy the soil is, soon gave me an appreciation of all the years of hard work which has been put into this vineyard. The soil is alive with healthy microbes, which flows directly through the vines, the fruit, and finally the wines!