Mario Marson takes “open by appointment” to a new level. Turning up at his Heathcote vineyard is like booking into a family Italian restaurant with a helping of good food and wine. Here, the Marson family table becomes your tasting bench, and because Mario sees his wines intrinsically linked to food the wine tasting also includes a selection of antipasti served with estate-grown olive oil. If you are in luck, there might even be drunken buffalo cheese on the menu made by cheesemaker Giorgio Linguanti with Vinea Marson nebbiolo skins.
Mario is a quiet, unassuming and overwhelmingly thoughtful man and winemaker. Fans of Mount Mary wines will remember him from his early days working with Dr John Middleton. He’s been managing his own brand for many years, one that promotes an Italian-style expression in a manner that is largely unforced, a little rustic even, shying away from boldness in favour of subtlety.
Heathcote is proving a highly suitable conduit for Italian grapes such as sangiovese and nebbiolo, so too the Alpine Valleys where pinot bianco, malvasia d’Istria, friulano and picolit are sourced for his Grazia blend. There’s also prosecco, a bow to the mega-popular newbie. Jeni Port