Giaconda is an Australian wine

Australian wine

The Australian Wine Industry is the fourth largest exporter of wine around the world, with 760 million litres a year to a large international export market and contributes $5.5 billion per annum to the nation's economy...

ry in Beechworth, Victoria

Beechworth, Victoria

Beechworth is a well-preserved historical town located in the north-east of Victoria, Australia, famous for its major growth during the gold rush days of the mid-1850s...

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History

Throughout the 1970s Rick Kinzbrunner, a mechanical engineer, travelled and spent time with wineries in New Zealand, the USA and France including Stag's Leap

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars

Stag's Leap Wine Cellars is a winery established by Warren Winiarski in 1970 and based in the Stags Leap District of Napa Valley, California. The winery was sold to a joint venture by Chateau Ste...

, Simi Winery

Simi Winery

Simi Winery is one of the oldest and largest superpremium-class boutique wineries in California.-History:The winery was founded in San Francisco, California in 1876 by two Italian brothers, Giuseppe and Pietro Simi, who had immigrated to the United States during the California Gold Rush...

 and the owners of Chateau Petrus

Château Pétrus

Pétrus is a Bordeaux wine estate located in the Pomerol appellation near its eastern border to Saint-Émilion. An estate of limited size, it produces a limited production red wine almost entirely from Merlot grapes, on occasion with small amounts of Cabernet Franc, and produces no second wine...

, the Mouex group. During his time in the United States he studied at University of California, Davis

UC Davis Department of Viticulture and Enology

The Department of Viticulture and Enology at the University of California, Davis, located in Davis, California, offers undergraduate and graduate degrees in the areas of grape growing and wine making. Located just 45 minutes from Napa Wine Country the department has strong connections with wine...

.

He came back to Australia in 1980 and took up an assistant winemaker role at Brown Brothers

Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard

Brown Brothers Milawa Vineyard is a family-owned wine company based in Milawa, Victoria, Australia. Brown Brothers was founded in 1889 by John Francis Brown and continues to be owned and operated by his descendants on the original property...

 until 1982 when he purchased land in the Beechworth region, planting the original vines to be used for his wines under the Giaconda label. The initial planting consisted of Chardonnay

Chardonnay

Chardonnay is a green-skinned grape variety used to make white wine. It is originated from the Burgundy wine region of eastern France but is now grown wherever wine is produced, from England to New Zealand...

, Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon

Cabernet Sauvignon is one of the world's most widely recognized red wine grape varieties. It is grown in nearly every major wine producing country among a diverse spectrum of climates from Canada's Okanagan Valley to Lebanon's Beqaa Valley...

, Merlot

Merlot

Merlot is a darkly blue-coloured wine grape, that is used as both a blending grape and for varietal wines. The name Merlot is thought to derive from the Old French word for young blackbird, merlot, a diminutive of merle, the blackbird , probably from the color of the grape. Merlot-based wines...

, Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc

Cabernet Franc is one of the major black grape varieties worldwide. It is principally grown for blending with Cabernet Sauvignon and Merlot in the Bordeaux style, but can also be vinified alone - as in the Loire's Chinon...

, and Pinot Noir

Pinot Noir

Pinot noir is a black wine grape variety of the species Vitis vinifera. The name may also refer to wines created predominantly from Pinot noir grapes...

. The winery is based nine kilometers southwest of Beechworth.

The winery is named after the Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa

Mona Lisa is a portrait by the Italian artist Leonardo da Vinci. It is a painting in oil on a poplar panel, completed circa 1503–1519...

, which is also known as La Gioconda in Italy.

The first Giaconda wines were released in 1987, with a Chardonnay from the 1986 vintage and Cabernet blend from 1985.

Kinzbrunner has been described as one of Australia's greatest winemakers. In 2003 he won the Australian Winemaker of the Year award from Australian Gourmet Traveller Wine Magazine and in July 2006 he was named one of the world's best 10 white wine makers by Decanter

Decanter (magazine)

Decanter is an up market magazine on wine and spirits, published in over 90 countries on a monthly basis. The magazine content includes news from the industry, vintage guides and wine recommendations. Decanter organizes the annual Decanter World Wine Awards.-Wine Ratings:Decanter employs a 1 to 5...

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The Giaconda vineyard was noted as Australia's "most important vineyard" and was listed in first place of twenty five top vineyards by Australian Sommelier Magazine.

Wines

Giaconda produces about 2500 cases of wine each year. Giaconda produces wine from Chardonnay, Roussanne, Pinot Noir, Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon as well as a small amount from newly planted Nebbiolo grapes.

Two of Giaconda's wines are included in the Langton's Classification of Australian Wine, the Pinot Noir at the "Excellent" tier and the Chardonnay at the highest classification level of "Exceptional".

In the 2003 vintage, Giaconda released only one wine under their main label, a Cabernet Sauvignon, due to smoke damage to the grapes from the 2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires

2003 Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires

The Eastern Victorian alpine bushfires, also known as the Great Divide Fire Complex, started with eighty seven fires that were started by lightning in the north east of Victoria on 8 January 2003...

. The grapes that could still be vinified were released under the label "McClay Road". Kinzbrunner has continued to make wine under this name in subsequent vintages, as a second tier label with fruit from young vines.

Giaconda has entered a joint venture with Chapoutier

Chapoutier

Chapoutier, or Maison M. Chapoutier, is a winery and négociant business situated in Tain-l'Hermitage in the Rhône region in France. Chapoutier produces wine from appellations across the Rhône region, but it is typically their top Hermitage wines, both red and white, that receive the most attention...

 to collaborate on producing a Beechworth Shiraz from the Nantua vinyard called "Ergo Sum". The first wine released was from the 2008 vintage.

Other projects

Kinzbrunner has been the importer within the Australasian region for Sirugue wine barrels since 1985.

Kinzbrunner makes two wines exclusively for Vintage Cellars

Vintage Cellars

Vintage Cellars is an Australian liquor chain owned by Wesfarmers and is positioned at the higher end of the market compared with the Liquorland and 1st Choice Liquor Superstore, Wesfarmers' other liquor brands...

under the "rk" label, a Chardonnay and a Shiraz.

Since 2005, Kinzbrunner has assisted as a winemaking consultant at the Star Lane Vineyard and Winery in Beechworth.