Giaconda

Giaconda is one of the country’s great wine producers, producing one of Australia’s greatest chardonnays. It was founded by mechanical engineer Rick Kinzbrunner in '82 and is devoted to organic viticulture and traditional winemaking such as gravity flow, wild fermentations and no filtration. Central to this philosophy is an underground cellar, dug out of solid granite, creating steady year-round temperatures that lead to prolonged and gentle fermentation. Slowly, since the ’07 vintage, Rick’s son, Nathan, has been stepping up. Nathan and Rick make all the big decisions together, like planting nebbiolo; they sat atop the La Mora hillside in Barolo in ’08 and decided there and then, planting it 2 years later. More recently they decided to reconnect with roussanne, planting it on the warmer aspects of the Giaconda Vineyard. -JENI PORT