Company Wine Beechworth Nebbiolo 2017

The key to great Nebbiolo is perfume and it is something that many local versions lack. Yes they have the Nebbiolo character but not those haunting aromas with a combination of raw dark fruits and pretty perfume – like a Pinot Noir on steroids.

But this wine has it, and in spades. The fruit comes from Peter Graham’s Domenica vineyard, high up in the Beechworth hills. I was not always sure that Beechworth had what it took for Nebbiolo but no longer need convincing. The wine opens up with beautifully pure red cherry and cranberry fruit which are backed by rocky, five-spice and floral complexity, that slowly reveal themselves in the glass. But on the palate the wine’s pretty fruit is replaced by a quite serious and brooding palate. Bone dry, mid-weight and juicy; there is fleshy ripe fruits that are underpinned by some quite serious tannins that drive a long and muscular finish. A very serious Nebbiolo that will get even better given five to ten years in bottle. You can pick it up here.