Tasmania’s Stefano Lubiana Wines has won the 2018 International Wine Challenge Biodynamic trophy for having the world’s best biodynamic wine.
Stefano and Monique Lubiana’s Ruscello Pinot Noir 2016 took out the top prize and it’s the third year running the winery has triumphed.
Lubiana, a fifth-generation winemaker, told The Weekly Times it was a great honour to win the award.
“Biodynamic wines are ones that your great-grandfather would have drunk. A wine that was made before the industrial age and without chemicals. They taste so good because they are pure and natural.
“The Ruscello Pinot is simple in its nature, but with a depth of flavour, and a pure expression of our vineyard, of our terroir at Granton.”
Certified biodynamic wines meet the same production standards as organic wines, with no synthetic chemicals used in the process; however, biodynamics adds a further dimension.
Biodynamic wine growers believe that the vineyard is a living organism capable of being self-sustaining and self-regenerative. Growers observe the cycles of nature, including planetary activity, and ensure their vines are subject to very little human interference. They frown on the introduction of outside materials to assist with soil fertility and pest control.
Stefano Lubiana’s vineyard, established 28 years ago at Granton, north of Hobart, is free of herbicide and fertiliser use.
Monique Lubiana told The Hobart Mercury the couple were ecstatic to bring home the award for the third year running.
“It’s a great thrill, and reflection of Tasmania’s pristine environment, and further proof that our state produces some of the world’s best wines,” she said.
