We are very excited to present our only white wine made from a rare Spanish white variety called Planta Fina de Pedralba.
The very hot conditions of the 2024 vintage have smoothed the crunchy acids we've come to expect from Planta Fina and produced a more gentle wine this year that is so flavoursome.
Delicate fruit flavours of lemon blossom, honeydew and honeysuckle lead into a softly textured mouthfeel of nougat, white flowers and lemon meringue garnered from maturation on ferment lees in seasoned, large format French oak.
THIS WINE HAS AN AMAZING STORY....
Back in 2007, Anne was studying viticulture at UWA and her lecturer, John 'jac' Considine, told us a story about travelling around the South West with a French ampelographer (an expert at identifying grape varieties).
They had taken a pit-stop on a side road near Donnybrook and the ampelographer emerged from the bush with much excitement. Underneath the bracken and blackberries he had spotted a rare Spanish white grape variety he hadn't seen for years. Apologetically jac explained that trip had been some time ago and he couldn't remember the location.
But Dave had an idea about where they had been. He had picked apples on most of the local orchards as a teenager and knew about an abandoned vineyard. Sure enough, some time later we found the very haggard old vines growing up through bracken, blackberries and thick long grass with a few ragged bunches of fruit.
Two years of DNA testing followed to confirm that jac's ampelographer was right - Planta Fina de Pedralba was growing on the other side of town!
Planta Fina de Pedralba yields large clusters of large grapes which turn golden as they mature. Traditionally some fruit would be dried to raisins while the fruit with less than perfect appearance would go to wine. The variety is named after the town of Pedralba in Valencia, Spain where the grapes were almost wiped out by phylloxera in the 1870's.
On a visit to Spain in 2015 we were not able to find any growers of Planta Fina.
Today we have 240 vines with another 600 cuttings in the nursery - which will become an acre of planted vines.
Enjoy!
PAST REVIEWS:
2023 Planta Fina - BRONZE - 89 points
"A pitch-perfect seaside white, all crisp and crunchy, dry, limey, gently saline and briny with light lime and grapefruit tang. It's super refreshing and downright delicious. Sure, a little pale in its scents and flavours, but it does what it sets out to do – refresh. A winning drink."
Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion, May 2024
2022 Planta Fina - SILVER MEDAL - 93 points
"Planta Fina, a very rare Spanish variety, was discovered in an 80-year-old vineyard in Donnybrook, Western Australia. Mazza Wines used the three (!!!) vines available and now have 220, with 600 more cuttings ready to go. They are the only producer of this variety in Australia. Sea spray and red apple scents in abundance with a touch of hazelnut and candle wax. The palate shows more red apple, licks of briny minerality and a slippery dip of almond finishing long, fine and refreshing with a pink grapefruit juice tang. It's an utter delight, a summery white of impeccable credentials. Only 45 cases made."
Mike Bennie, Halliday Wine Companion, March 2023
PLEASE NOTE: We deliver 6 bottle and 12 bottle cases only.
Please ensure you have ordered the correct number of wines in your shopping cart when placing your order. Cheers!
