Review: Pizzini’s latest and greatest Nebbiolo (with an Aussie accent)

Few Australian Nebbiolo producers have invested as much effort, for as long, as Pizzini.

Indeed, that history now spans three decades – there’s a great yarn about Pizzini’s first Nebbiolo, from the 1991 vintage, on the Essentials magazine site here for a good reference.

Anyway, I always thought that Coronamento means crown or crowning (based on my average Italian), but it really translates as ‘fulfilment of one’s dreams’ and it is the name of the vineyard site (one of Pizzini’s highest) where this Neb is sourced from. The Coronamento is the Pizzini family’s top dog expression of the grape. Released in good years, the wines spends two years in barrel, then matured for extra years in bottle, and bottled complete with a new, idiosyncratic label with a grand old photo of Robert Pizzini.

Charisma in spades…

Pizzini Coronamento Nebbiolo 2016

What I like here is that it’s an Australian Nebbiolo, not a Langhe knock off. The nose even smells like a mature Aussie red, with caramel brick dust, roses and dried cherries. It’s a wine of savouriness rather than fruit, sour cherries and dusty tannins. Drying, maybe a bit sweet and sour, but quintessentially interesting and earthen. The tannins aren’t mouth destroying, but sort of like a good track playing in the background. It’s a wine for contemplating, and I like it.

Best drinking: good now, and will live for at least a decade. It has that ageless vibe. 18/20, 93/100. 13.8%, $140. Pizzini website. Would I buy it? Hmm. The price is steep, but not in modern Barolo terms. A few glasses for me at least.