Italians of the Hills

Adelaide Hills | 14.5% | $27
Winemaker Tom Keelan works with plenty of the emerging Italian (and Spanish) varieties now making their home in the Adelaide Hills, Sangiovese being one of them that has definitely come of age here in the past few years across the length and breadth of the region. In this iteration it finds a medium bodied balance of both fruit and savoury characters – dark cherry, black tea, spiced plum jam, faint anise/licorice with a light crush of granite minerality up front as well as in an underpinning of the dry palate. This is no simple fruit punch style – more gastronomic, savoury and is at its best at the table with rustic Italian eats like pizza and pasta with tomato-based sauces. Moreishly drinkable.

Adelaide Hills | 14.5% | $45
Under the custodianship of celebrated winemaker Steve Pannell since 2019, though he has been working with the Protero vineyard in Gumeracha since 2005 – its five clones of Nebbiolo planted back in 1999 a main attraction. A frequent trophy winner in the Hills regional awards, the wine has grown confidently in stature and identity over the past five years, here with captivating aromas of fennel, seed and bulb, mushroom braise, and top notes of dark rose. It’s these savoury elements that drive the wine from nose to tail, with suede like tannins adding mid-palate mouthfeel and texture, some pepperiness acting as a vinous seasoning in the finish. As Pannell says, this is not trying to be a Piedmonte Barolo.
But it sure stands on its own feet and will impress anyone with a cultural cringe in that direction.

Adelaide Hills | 14% | $42
From the unique Longview Vineyard in Macclesfield, where the Saturno family nurtures two of the great northern Italian red varieties, this and Nebbiolo, as well as more familiar wine styles like Pinot Grigio, Chardonnay, Pinot Noir, Shiraz and Cabernet. The Barbera has received a lot of attention in the vineyard to raise its fruit quality, and the 2024 is evidence that the results are most exciting. This has a captivating crimson to blue-purple colour, and smells of all things blue as well, in its florals and fruit – violets and berry. The fragrance stays buoyant in the palate, resonating with vibrant blueberry and crimson plums, the flavour/acid/tannin balance cleverly articulated. Everything sings harmoniously with a seriously lingering finish. A joy to drink.

Adelaide Hills | 13.3% | $30
Nero d’Avola is best known as Sicily’s most popular red variety, now gaining popularity in several warmer SA regions – McLaren Vale and Langhorne Creek, amongst them – and clearly loving certain sites in the Adelaide Hills as well, here sourced from the Amadio Vineyard in Kersbrook. There’s a steamy, almost exotic sense to start – poached plum aromas and crushed gravelly senses as well. The variety has an oft-noted candied cherry-like flavour, and this doesn’t disappoint in that department, sweet fruited, juicy and peppery. It also holds a bit of a secret, as there’s a 4% dash of Kuitpo district Pinot Noir in the mix, to give the wine a distinctive, vibrant lift in the palate. Its natural sweetness and pepper spice suits a dish with a smattering of chilli. Neat, slurpy.

Adelaide Hills | 14.5% | $32
The vintage here tells us that winemaker Daryl Catlin was an early adopter and clearly a great admirer of this central Italian red variety, fortunately growing now for some time in Kersbrook’s Amadio Vineyard in the northern Hills region. And yes, at eight years it is the current vintage and drinking brilliantly, its darker fruit notes well established – black cherry to blueberry – while more savoury elements broaden the tasting spectrum with an earthy, tarry background feel. The dark fruit and oak connections stay the course, however, over time becoming meshed into a singular, long-holding note, while the tannins have softened into a fine, chalk-dust underlayer. Above all it’s delicious, warm-hearted and moreish.

Adelaide Hills | 12.5% | $28
A new release coming off the back of a fabulous set of show results for the previous 2024 vintage of this wine – trophies for best rosé at the Adelaide Hills Wine Show last year and also the recent National Wine Awards in Canberra, where it and another Hills entry, the Longview Juno Rosato (Nebbiolo and Pinot Noir blend), were the top two scores from all over the country. The 2025 has plenty to love in its own right, pale pink with faint blueish tinges, the bouquet speaking uniquely of its variety, a southern Italian original that has migrated well to the Kersbrook district. The nose suggests rose petal and mint, the palate follows suit with a dry, subtle flavour line, more savoury than fruity. Compact, sophisticated and quite adult in its rosé styling.