Trebbiano is a name common to a group of different, if related, vines, usually sharing a common feature of acid blandness. Often dismissed as a wine-lake grape for jug wines and vermouth makers (ugni blanc is a trebbiano), it can make for honest, even surprising wines.
Booth's at Glenrowan have trebbiano plantings dating from 1919 and currently make three trebbiano-based wines. This wine, retailing for $14 a bottle, is the dry, racy, table wine, sold in a riesling bottle (an accurate signal). There is also a sweet trebbiano and a fortified 'gold' trebbiano made in the mode of a white port.
The 2010 1919 series trebbiano from Taminick Cellars is tight, dry, has racy lemon acid and a bit of length about it. But the best feature is the slightest curve of waxy texture and flavour through the mid-palate. I'm no expert with trebbiano, but the good ones I have had show that waxy hint at richness as the acid races along. While some trebbiano can age with interest (especially when made into vin santo), the vast majority are for quick drinking. This is one of those: grab and enjoy it young, fresh and sharp, perhaps with salt and pepper squid, chicken in a tarragon and cream sauce, or octopus marinated in olive oil. 12.5% alcohol.
The image is of quince blossom.
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