Man on a mission

Mention the name Steve Lubiana in your next wine conversation and it's fairly likely you'll receive the standard response, "Steve who?" That's hardly surprising. Your average Tasmanian wine consumer would barely know of Lubiana's existence. 

He is, after all, just one of many local winegrowers, with a modest selection of vines, and only a little wine in commercial quantity to sell under his own name. 

But talk with those closely involved in the local industry - his peers, most particularly - and you'll get a better picture of the man who's co-proprietor of the Derwent Valley's Granton Vineyard. He's an all-round good guy in his early 30s, they say. Inseparable from his young wife Monique and their couple of bambinos. 

But Lubiana is not only well-liked by his colleagues, he's also held in high respect by them.

It's not difficult to see why.

Lured to Tasmania from South Australia five years ago, the couple bought land outside Hobart to fulfill the promise of a high-quality, home-grown sparkling wine industry. They've since nurtured a flourishing family enterprise. 

Primarily a contract winemaker for other companies at present, Lubiana has become the state's fifth largest processor of local wine grapes. Numbered among his Tasmanian vineyard clients are Moorilla Estate, Bream Creek, Elsewhere, and Lake Barrington Estate, the latter in Tasmania's North West.

Still awaiting full commercial production from his own 4.5 ha Granton site, he's also been developing useful working relationships with mainland companies Hardys, Yalumba, and Penfolds.

"Steve's a man with a mission", explains Elsewhere's Eric Phillips.

"You can see already that he's putting down a good foundation. He's here for the long haul. As a winemaker, he has many attributes, not the least of which are youth, determination and skill.

"More importantly, he's working from worthy ideals. He'll achieve success for others as well as for himself."

Born into a long line of Italian winemakers, Steve Lubiana must surely have wine in his blood. His childhood years were spent among vats and vines, providing him with something of a head start over many of his co-workers.

It's something he uses to his advantage.

He doesn't claim to have all the answers when it comes to making top-class sparkling wines, but he knows the kinds of issues that have to be addressed in Tasmania.

"When you come to an area that's producing a new wine style, you have to get used to the fruit that you're getting," Lubiana says. 

"You have to know its strengths and its limitations in order to work it.

"I've already had a few years' experience now with Tassie fruit making sparkling base wines for Hardys and Yalumba; helping to create their top wines. I can see what's happened to the fruit. I've learned to understand how to handle it successfully - while also being aware of the little traps that can occur along the way. You can't copy from those makers, but you can get ideas that can help improve what you've been doing."

Uncorking a bottle of Elsewhere Pinot Noir Methode Champenoise ($20 cellar door) surely offers plenty to suggest that Lubiana's bright idea are right ideas. Abundant in flavour and mouthfeel, the wine retains its fine, vigorous bead until the last drop disappears from the glass.

Its maker doesn't claim it to be the ultimate bubbly, but it's a pretty good start to a sparkling future.

First published 26 October 1995: The Advocate