My Marco Lubiana journey starts now
There are eleven of Marco Lubiana’s wines reviewed on The Winefront site, dating back to the releases from the 2018 vintage. They are all either pinot noir or chardonnay, and of these eleven wines a remarkable nine of them have scored 94/100 or above. That’s a stunning hit rate, or run of form, for a new wine label – though of course, Marco is the son of Stefano Lubiana, where Marco also works, and so the vineyard sources Marco has access to theoretically include vines that were planted over 30 years ago.
Marco Lubiana’s wines, then, are grown in the Derwent Valley, on the Derwent River, on a dry, north-facing site of complex geology. Twenty percent of his latest (2024) pinot noir was grown on the new high density planting at the tough, boney, high(est) section of the Lubiana estate.
I’ve admired Stefano/Steve Lubiana’s wines since I first visited the estate in late 1999. Steve Lubiana is one of the more important producers in all of Australia: for the quality of his wines, for his leadership (among others) in the development of biodynamic viticulture in Australia, and for the way he has put the Derwent Valley on the world wine map.
But I’d never, for all this, tasted the wines of Marco – until, recently, I sat down to the Marco Lubiana Derwent Valley Chardonnay 2024, and the Marco Lubiana Derwent Valley Pinot Noir 2024.
I loved them both, mostly for their quality but also for the difference to the Stefano Lubiana wines. I’m tempted to say that there’s more of a push into the realms of the experimental with Marco, though that wouldn’t be quite fair to Steve, who has always been innovative, and has always striven for more. But Marco, as a young/new wine label, has a bit more freedom to explore.
This is evident in Marco’s 2024 Chardonnay, which is mineral and light, elegant and textural, but also has that free-flowing, unfettered feel that is often associated with the words “low fi”. It’s complex, honeyed and spicy, so there’s no shortage of flavour, but it’s a wine of such youthful good looks that it doesn’t require adornment; it tastes like a wine that’s been allowed to run barefoot through the long grass, in the most skilful of ways. Mike Bennie scored this at 95/100 on The Winefront and I’m in the same territory. It’s a belter.
I’m a sucker for whole bunch influence in certain styles of red wine – when intelligently applied – and so Marco’s 2024 Pinot Noir too is precisely to my liking. This is a sappy, sinewy, smoky pinot, high in tension and spice and also in juicy, red berried fruit. It puts on quite a show from the outset and, most importantly, keeps the party going all the way through the sinew and bone of the finish.
In short, this was my first experience of Marco Lubiana’s wines, but it won’t be my last. These are quality wines at heart, but they come with extras.
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Reviews of Marco Lubiana’s latest 2024 releases are available on The Winefront site here (subscriber).
