You won’t hear King Valley winemaker Joel Pizzini blowing his own trumpet – he’s too busy concentrating on how to make every vintage better than the year before.
Joel Pizzini is the typical quiet achiever, humble in his approach to winemaking and grape growing, willing to let his family’s wines do the talking. He started his career very early, working alongside his father, Fred Pizzini. As a typical country kid, he would find himself tinkering in the vineyard and winery after school and during holidays. “It wasn’t really winemaking that drove me; it was my ticket to stay on the farm,” Joel explains.
The Pizzini wine story dates back to 1978, when tobacco farming in the King Valley was in decline. The Pizzinis decided to grow grapes, but it wasn’t until 1994 that their first bottling was released. The 70-hectare vineyard sits nestled in a narrow pocket of the King Valley, a bucolic site that has expanded as the Pizzini winery has evolved.
Joel Pizzini spent most of his early years in the family vineyard, working closely with the vines and following his father’s interest in the finetuning of viticulture. Instrumental in the rise and rise of the Pizzini wines’ profile has been fruit quality, principally Fred and Joel’s longstanding work with grape clones, particularly sangiovese.
While this informal learning took place with his father, Joel formally studied winemaking at Charles Sturt University. He also worked at several high profile wineries, including Leeuwin Estate (Margaret River), Marenco (Piedmont), Stonier (Mornington Peninsula) and – perhaps most significantly – famed Italian producer Isole e Olena (Tuscany), which helped narrow the focus on sangiovese.
Joel has drawn on this experience and his detailed knowledge of the family vineyards to hone his intuitive winemaking. Pizzini wines seem to brilliantly reflect the inherent personality of the grape varieties chosen.
He works with a collection of Italian varieties that reflect the family’s heritage. The Pizzini name is synonymous with the best examples of Australian-grown, Italian-style wines. Verduzzo, arneis, nebbiolo, canaiolo, pinot grigio, prosecco, verdicchio and sagrantino are all grown with care by the Pizzini family.
We’ve done a lot of work with our source material, and we continue to work hard in the vineyard to get these grape varieties right,” says Joel. The single-variety wines produced from these Italian varieties are an enduring source of inspiration for winemakers Australia-wide.
Spend time with Joel and he’ll rarely reveal his successes and accolades, instead turning the talk to improvement. “It’s always been a thing of mine to do better than the year before,” he says.
Joel’s ambitions are reflected in the increasing quality of – and interest in – the wines. The Pizzini family, long at the forefront of Italian grape varieties in Australia, has accelerated innovation and precision in their vineyards.
“Every single vine has had a change of viticulture management. I want better fruit. I want better parcels to make those pockets separately. It’s about increasing quality,” says Joel. This determination has paid dividends.
“The next phase is looking at the best soils for each variety. We’ve always been focused on clones and the varieties most suited to where we grow grapes, but we can finetune things further,” he says.
The mantra for winemaking is simple. “I want to create styles that are about savouriness and earthiness,” Joel explains.
“I’ve never really been a great lover of typical Australian, fruit-driven styles, and want to do the opposite.”
An intimate understanding of his vineyards along with deep experience in winemaking form part of Joel’s higher credentials. They are lessons learnt from his father’s constant shape-shifting between viticulturist and winemaker.
“I liked that Dad was always doing lots of things every day, not doing one thing day-in day-out, so the mix of activities really drew me in,” Joel says. “We’ve got basic equipment back home, a simple shed for winemaking. I’ve grown up in the vineyard. Our fruit is looking better and better. That’s about it for me.”
Joel Pizzini may not wish to stand in the limelight, but his vinous endeavours are certainly centrestage.