Review: Vigna Cantina Trebbiano 2023

Dom Torzi has quite a treasure trove of old plots at his disposal, doesn’t he? From the Adelaide Plains to the Hills, Barossa and Eden Valleys too. That’s plenty of hours in the car visiting growers. This Trebbiano comes from a 120yo single vineyard in the ‘Koonunga Dunes’, and I can’t imagine there’s much Trebbiano planted in the western Barossa any more – once upon a time, it would have been everywhere as a key brandy grape, with most of it now grafted over (to Shiraz or Cabernet).

Anyway, this has personality, like the great Abruzzo Trebbiano. It spends 8 days on skins and 8 months in old oak, which is just enough to pick up a golden, lemon walnut chewy pull with preserved lemon, lemon balm and this lemony phenolic tang. It’s throaty but crisp, full-flavoured and obviously intense yet not heavy. Interest and depth: It may be a bit sour and not necessarily a sexy wine, but there is so much to it. $28 for this? Ridiculous.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: now to ten years. But just drink it now.
• Score (out of 20): 17.7
• Score (out of 100): 92
• Alcohol %: 12.5
• RRP (in $AUD): 24
• Winery website: https://torzimatthews.com.au/
• Would I buy it?: worth a few glasses