New England winery Topper’s Mountain has released Australia’s first-ever Tempranillo Blanco, bringing the unique varietal to local wine lovers.

While Tempranillo is usually known as a red wine, the blanco variant is the result of a Spanish mutation. In 1988, a grower in the La Rioja region noticed a single cluster of white grapes instead of Tempranillo’s signature dark blue.

Spain’s Center for Agricultural Research and Development conducted trials on the white grapes, with the Consejo Regulador of Rioja officially allowed its use in the region’s white wines in 2007. 

Set in one of Australia’s youngest wine regions, New England, Topper’s Mountain has been a pioneer of both the region and NSW winemaking since its first established vineyard plantings in 2000.

From its very first days, Topper’s Mountain owner and vigneron Mark Kirkby has been focused on showcasing the region’s potential for alternative wine varieties that best suit the local region, climate and terroir.

These rare and emerging wine varieties are showcased across the three new ranges, including Australia’s only known plantings of Tempranillo Blanco.

“Since day one, I’ve experimented with alternative wine varieties that best suit the high altitude, cool climate and rich, red volcanic ash soils,” Kirkby said.

“It’s been a long search, but one that’s shown the importance of variety selection and site to wine quality.”

Emerging, rare and alternative varieties have been a mainstay of Topper’s Mountain since the Kirkbys first planted the vines in 2000. The family initially planted 22 varieties including 15 varieties in the “Fruit Salad” block, a mixed planting to trial varieties potentially suited to the site, climate, soil and topography. Today, the Kirkbys have 18 varieties across their 10-hectare vineyard.

Seeker is Topper’s Mountain’s new introductory range, offering curious minds the opportunity to explore the winery’s minimalist winemaking approach with ready-to-drink styles. The Seeker range includes a Seeker White, Seeker Pink and Seeker Red with the various varietals becoming an ever-evolving bricolage of each vintage.

The winemarker’s Finder range highlights the definitive wine style imparted by the unique site of Topper’s Mountain, including the interesting keepsakes strewn about the rugged landscape. The label design showcases these natural treasures on each release, with a myriad of feathers, sticks, stones and insects capturing the essence of the vineyard on each individual
bottle.

The current releases in the Finder range include a Gewurztraminer, a Nebbiolo Extra Brut Rosé, a Manseng and a Touriga & Tintas red blend.

“Our Nebbiolo Extra Brut Rose sparkling was what turned out to be a happy accident from the 2021 vintage,” Kirkby said. “A forecast of heavy rain in late March put us in a pickle – we could roll the dice and see if the nebbiolo could ride out the weather, or we could pick early to save as much fruit as possible and try our hand at making a sparkling wine.

“We chose the sparkling wine route and made our first traditional method sparkling wine using Nebbiolo, and it was so enticing that we have kept it a staple in the portfolio ever since!”

Topper’s Mountain also has a new brand identity and range structure that has been designed by Adelaide-based design
and brand agency Parallax, which has woven the innovative DNA of the Kirkbys and Topper’s Mountain across all of the brand’s touchpoints and three new ranges.

Kirkby’s vineyard practices on the remote property in Tingha, NSW focus on minimal impact, with management practices including sheep grazing amongst the vines in cooler months, slashing of under vine and inter-row vegetation promoting soil and vine health.

Pesticides have not been used on the site since 2002, with natural methods like the self-seeding of diverse inter-row vegetation providing pollen to allow breeding of ample local predators to prevent pest species damaging vines and the crop.

Located just eight kilometers north of the small town of Tingha, NSW, the Topper’s Mountain Tasting Room offers visitors the chance to immerse themselves into the rugged landscape, with floor to ceiling windows and an expansive deck allowing guests to soak in panoramic views over the vineyard and Macintyre River valley.

Only footsteps away from the vineyard, visitors can enjoy a tasting experience and charcuterie boards while they hear from Kirkby or the winemaker, Jan Taborsky, about what’s happening in the winery or vineyard throughout the year.

The new Topper’s Mountain Seeker, Finder and Keeper ranges are available online from the Topper’s Mountain website and the Tingha Tasting Room (by appointment only). The wines are also available across select independent bottle shops in Sydney and on the NSW North Coast.