"I chose these wines to show how versatile the variety can be when grown and produced in suitable places by producers less focused on the DNA of the winemaker and more on the sites and drinkability.  My interest in Nebbiolo didn’t exactly come from any travel or enjoying bottles from my favourite producers abroad such as Borgogno, Canonica, Rinaldi, Cappellano, Oddero, Ar Pe Pe etc.. though they’ve certainly helped with inspiration.

Instead, this journey started back in 1991 when my father Norman planted a row at Eastern Peake. Norm was interested in the varieties with early bud burst and late ripening. A good clone went in under guidance by local retired viticulturist guru Max Loader—he was super passionate and championing for people to plant Nebbiolo in around the Ballarat area at the time.

Unfortunately Nebbiolo is one of the wildest grapes to grow, it looks pretty weird compared to most other Vitis Vinifera classics.

The climate on our site proved much too cold, but our one row is still there. It sets fruit most years and fails to ripen. It probably should be pulled out, yet I enjoy the nostalgia and like having the vine material for anyone who’s interested in planting it somewhere better suited.

After those formative years trying to grow Nebbiolo, it was great to be reacquainted with Cameron & Robert John, a father and son team who have been pioneering Nebbiolo in the Pyrenees since the 2000s. Steve Pannell suggested they grow Nebbiolo for Hardy’s back in the day, he was quite taken by sites climate, red ferrous clay soils with heavy deposits of quartz and ironstone throughout. I could only imagine how challenging it has been mastering the variety in the Pyrenees!"

— Owen Latta

“I’ve been working with Nebbiolo for a decade now. Not trying to produce an imitation Italian wine, more so expressing a red grape grown in a suitable location. The Latta Headwaters Nebbiolo 2022 is grown by the John's family up in the Landsborough Valley in the Pyrenees.

Along the journey, the wine looks so different from what it’s supposed to be but patience lets it unravel to show something absolutely delicious from its long élevage (14 months). I’m absolutely stoked with this wine from a cooler season!”

Ar.Pe.Pe was established by Arturo Pelizzatti Perego in 1984, my birth year, and unfortunately not a great vintage globally due to the cool wet season. Arturo was so keen to put Valtellina terroir on the map for the world to see, and loads of pride and determination went into his ambitious goal. 

Arturo started producing long-ageing Nebbiolo wines using the rules of the oldest traditions & not following the trends of the ‘Barolo Boys’ breaking rank to using small casks with high oaky flavour of the time. Nebbiolo is known locally as ‘Chiavannasca' in the far north of Italy, against the Alps.

The vines are Vine ares planted on terraces on the south side of a rare valley that runs east west. Today, Isabella (winemaker), Emanuele and Guido Pelizzatti Perego continue their father’s vision as the fifth generation of winemakers and growers.

I love the Rosso di Valtellina for its perfume, freshness & high drinkability, driving juiciness, perky acid and fine long tannins. This wine just goes to show how different the grape can be, I reckon it's a fun one.

“Borgogno has been producing wine for almost 250 years! They have some excellent vineyard holdings and are fascinating producers of high quality Nebbiolo that can age for such a long time. I love the story behind this wine, ‘No Name’. All producers have to submit a sample of their Barolo for routine evaluation, the regulatory commission can choose to deny the wine its DOCG status if not up to the standard.

Borgogno submitted a routine sample of a single cask in 2005 only to be rejected as the wine was ‘stylistically irregular for Barolo’. Hence, ‘No Name’ was born.

Every vintage since, Borgogno has chosen to voluntarily declassify a cask of their DOCG Barolo (crus of Cannubi, Fossati and San Pietro to Langhe). “A quiet protest against the bureaucracy that afflicts Italian winemakers.” Borgogno stridently calls the wine ‘No Name’, about which Antonio Galloni offers this: “Consumers should take note: this is one of the best values in the world of wine.”