A vibrant blend of Malvasia Istriana (46%), Moscato Giallo
(22%), Friulano (17%), Riesling (11%) and Ribolla Gialla (5%) co-ferment in terracotta amphora for 146 days. Impressed with the distinct quality of each grape, after 6 months of maceration we rack the juice, put on some traditional Italian music & jump in the amphora to empty the remaining rich solids by hand. Basket pressed and matured in large format oak for another 12 months, Lina Lool is lightly sulphured & bottled unfined, unfiltered. A wine with natural complexity, vivacity & charm.

“When Malvasia, Moscato Giallo, Friulano, Riesling and Ribolla Gialla get together for a party lasting 146 days on skins, Lina Lool arrives. I love this wine. Swooning aromas and flavours of lychee, musk, pink grapefruit with peach fuzz tannins all chewy and textural. It’s a savoury, dry wine with lemon salt, preserved lemon flavours and Japanese pickled ginger.”

Jane Faulkner, Halliday Wine Companion August 2023

95/100 points, Gold Medal

Lina Lool is an iconic celebration of Quealy’s cherished connection to Friuli. Key players of the dynamic blend are rare varietals indigenous to Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy’s north-east; Malvasia Istriana, Friulano & Ribolla Gialla.

Malvasia Istriana is a premium grape variety in Friuli, lending wonderful weight & aromatics to blends. Planted at Quealy in 2014 with just 3 rows; Malvasia is the smallest planting of a single varietal onsite. A late ripening grape, Malvasia garners excellent acidity, delightful stone fruit aromatics & phenolic power.

Quealy Winemakers established their Friulano vineyard by grafting onto one of their Chardonnay blocks in 2003. Friulano produces big bunches of big berries with thick, waxy skin. Strategic bud & shoot selection over summer to spring as well as careful fruit selection at harvest ensures impeccable quality, acidity & phenolic character. Ripening in Autumn as leaves fall away, the exposed berries plump in cool sunshine. Bunches become looser & lighter as they hang, darkening to a rich copper gold. A glorious variety for skin contact wine.

Ribolla Gialla is perhaps the most revered variety within
the orange wine enthusiast of Italy’s northeast. Time on skins transforms & creates wine of deep complexity. A younger vine onsite, Ribolla Gialla was planted in 2018, celebrated as one of the first plantings of this rare varietal in Australia.

Planted in 2014, the Moscato Giallo has been the cornerstone of our aromatic field blend. With a portion of our original 1982 planting of Riesling offering structure & minerality, Lina Lool is a marvellous medley of our most compelling grapes.

The name Lina Lool is derived from Linalool, a terpene synthesized in berries and stored in their skins. Linalool is found in the aromatic varieties Malvasia Istriana, Moscato Giallo and Riesling. It’s the maceration time on skins that releases the musky intensely floral aromatics.