Our Nebbiolo Extra Brut Rosé is a little miracle achieved in creative desperation.
Some of the most interesting wines in the world exist because something went wrong. Champagne itself is thought to have origins in an accidental second fermentation. And the Topper’s Mountain Nebbiolo Extra Brut Rosé — which we believe is one of the most unusual and delicious sparkling wines made anywhere in Australia — exists because the 2021 growing season was catastrophically wet, a forecast showed 200mm of rain on the horizon.
At Topper’s Mountain, the early harvest worked in the wine’s favour. The grapes were picked before full phenolic (tannin) maturity, meaning the sparkling wine has Nebbiolo’s aromatics and acidity without the excessive tannin. The 18 months on lees added toasty, bready complexity — the signature of extended lees ageing — while preserving the freshness of the fruit.
A little miracle achieved in creative desperation. Handpicked and fully destemmed. Gently pressed and spontaneously fermented in a tank. Maturation for eleven months in tank on fine lees. Secondary fermentation in bottle with 24 months en tirage. Disgorged with 2g/l of dosage.
The Story Behind the 2021 Harvest
The 2021 vintage at Topper’s Mountain was defined by the La Niña weather pattern that brought record rainfall across eastern Australia for two consecutive years. For red varieties that need warm, dry conditions to ripen fully, this was a serious challenge. The Nebbiolo block, which typically isn’t picked until the last week of April or the first week of May was already under threat from botrytis (a mould that thrives in wet, humid conditions) when a doom-laden forecast appeared: 200mm of rain in a single day.
At that point, the fruit was nowhere near ripe enough to make a conventional red wine. But it was exactly the state of ripeness. High natural acidity, relatively low sugar, bright primary fruit – ideal for making high-quality sparkling wine base. The Topper’s Mountain team made the call: pick immediately, make something entirely different.
The fruit was hand picked, whole-bunch pressed (as is standard for traditional method sparkling production), fermented, blended, and then bottled with a small addition of sugar and yeast to trigger the secondary fermentation in bottle that creates the bubbles. The wine then rested on its lees — the spent yeast cells from that secondary fermentation — for 18 months before disgorgement and release.
The result is a wine that Mark calls “a little miracle achieved in creative desperation.”
A remarkable sparkling wine
Traditional method sparkling wine (Méthode Traditionnelle, or Méthode Champenoise) is the most labour-intensive way to make sparkling wine, and the method that produces the most complex results. It is the same process used in Champagne, Cava, Franciacorta, and Crémant — a second fermentation in the bottle itself, followed by extended ageing on lees, riddling (gradually rotating and inverting the bottle to collect the yeast sediment in the neck), and disgorgement (removing that sediment).
Sparkling Nebbiolo is an extremely rare category globally. There have been some attempts in Piedmont — the variety’s Italian home — but it has never become an established style. Partly this is because Nebbiolo’s characteristic tannic structure is unusual in sparkling wine, and managing that structure while preserving the variety’s distinctive fruit character requires precise winemaking decisions at every stage.
The “Extra Brut” designation refers to the dosage (the small addition of sugar syrup that is traditionally added after disgorgement to balance acidity). Extra Brut means minimal dosage — this is a bone-dry sparkling wine, designed for palates that love precision and freshness without sweetness.
Tasting the 2021 Topper’s Mountain Nebbiolo Extra Brut Rosé
The colour is an immediate statement: a vivid salmon-rosé with delicate, persistent bubbles that rise in fine, continuous streams. It’s an unusual hue for a sparkling wine; warmer and more vibrant than a typical Pinot Noir-based rosé. Reflecting Nebbiolo’s own distinctive colour palette.
The nose is immediately charming and distinctive. Nebbiolo’s characteristic aromatics translate beautifully to sparkling form: rose hips, wild strawberry, and raspberry are the primary fruit notes, underpinned by a hint of dried cherry and a flicker of orange zest. After 18 months on lees, there’s a light toasty, biscuity quality in the background — subtle but present, adding complexity without overwhelming the fruit.
On the palate, the bubbles are fine and creamy. The creamy texture characteristic of quality traditional method sparkling that comes from extended contact between the wine and the lees. Flavours of wild strawberry and rose hip carry through, with a clean, refreshing acidity on the finish that is the variety’s signature. The bone-dry style keeps everything precise and elegant.
One-of-a-Kind Sparkling From a One-of-a-Kind Place
There is no other wine quite like the Topper’s Mountain Nebbiolo Extra Brut in Australia. The combination of variety, method, site, and vintage story is entirely unique.
In a sparkling wine market dominated by Champagne, Prosecco, and Australian Pinot Noir-Chardonnay blends, this is something genuinely different: a wine that pushes the boundaries, grown in a place where no one expected serious sparkling wine to come from, made by people who looked at catastrophe and found creative possibility.
That’s Topper’s Mountain in a glass.
The 2021 Nebbiolo Extra Brut Rosé is available at toppers.com.au/shop. This is a wine from a single vintage with a finite number of bottles — once they’re gone, this particular miracle cannot be repeated. Don’t leave it too long.
The story of Topper’s Mountain Nebbiolo doesn’t end with the sparkling wine. The still Nebbiolo from the Finder range shows the variety in its full structured, age-worthy form — the wine this site was designed to make. Both wines, and the full Topper’s Mountain range, are available at the online shop. And to truly understand the place that makes all of this possible, explore the Topper’s Mountain story.
