Nebbiolo. It’s one of those revered words. The lights dim. Eyes widen. The chatter quietens to a murmur. Well, metaphorically at least. For those held in its thrall, nebbiolo holds a grip like no other grape. It is the great grape of Piedmont – indeed, many believe it is unequivocally the great grape of Italy – responsible for both Barolo and Barbaresco, but it has also found an important place in Australia, especially in cooler elevated vineyard sites.
We thought it was time to take a Deep Dive…
We gathered every example of Australian nebbiolo that we could find, and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines.
2022 Soumah ‘Mezzaluna’ Nebbiolo, Yarra Valley $92 RRP
Peppiatt, Abbott, Infimo, and Baker all selected this wine among their top six from the blind tasting. Peppiatt found “easy drinking for the variety, with a lovely mouthfeel carrying dark, juicy cherries alongside tart and herbal notes. Tannins sit softer than expected, and there’s a cured meat character — more bresaola than jamón — that adds savoury depth.” Abbott’s assessment revealed a different dimension: a deep garnet rim with a ruby core whose “uniquely spicy and slightly dusty scent… like a bouquet of dried flowers” combines with vibrant fruit notes of freshly-pressed pomegranate juice. “The palate leads into a savoury interplay of tannins that hits straight on the roof of the mouth – reminiscent of the best Italian winemakers,” she observed, noting the wine’s promise to age beautifully over the next two to four years. For Infimo, dusty oak and sweet spice set the stage, “followed by notes of carob, incense and potpourri. Davidson plum powder, sweet red cherry and a subtle touch of hoisin add further intrigue.” He identified the oak as remarkably well integrated, contributing “texture and complexity without overwhelming the fruit.” Baker’s take focused on structure and balance: an opaque deep garnet core with brick-coloured edges showing a savoury nose of terracotta, ripe cherries, and macerated strawberries. “The palate is full-flavoured – abundant in cherry fruit as well as blood orange and bitter juniper – and direct and silky in its line thanks to its chewy, clay-textured tannins,” she noted, highlighting how “this wine’s seamless integration and balance is very appealing.”
2022 Paracombe Nebbiolo, Mount Lofty Ranges $37 RRP
Matthew Large, Infimo, and Abbott named this wine as part of their top six wines of the day. Large identified this as “a serious nebbiolo that demands to be listened to,” citing its “searing aromatic lift of brown sugar, dried orange peel, florals and spice” and “great tannin on the palate – persistent, long and chewy.” The powdery tannin structure, he observed, “builds quite attractively” and dominates the palate’s architecture. Infimo’s impression leaned into elegance: ripe cherry leads the bouquet, “supported by sweet red plum, kirsch and a delicate thread of incense.” The palate reveals itself as “silky and generous, with fleshy-yet-polished fruit and a subtly liqueur-like texture,” with an appealing confectionary note balanced by freshness. Abbott noted the wine’s initial shyness: “A little time and air reveals notes of deep juicy morello cherry and maraschino, accented with black liquorice and dried thyme.” She found “beautiful acidity lifting the fruit profile throughout, powdery and integrated tannins, and an appealing umami note of dried shiitake mushrooms” that creates a wine which is “deep and brooding, interweaving fruit, umami, acidity, tannin, and alcohol into layers of complexity” – ultimately “leaves the tongue tingling in a very pleasant way.”
2023 Vineyard 28 Nebbiolo, Geographe $40 RRP
Matthew Large and Tish Peppiatt included this wine in their top six selections from the tasting. “Quite pure rose petal and baking spices on the nose – lovely aromatics,” Large opened, finding that “as it opens it really draws you in.” The palate delivers “chewy wild strawberry, tar, and just a hint of fresh leather,” with “lovely fine extract on show here – the wine is powdery, bright, and long. It nails the balance between being seductively pretty upfront and complex enough to invite you back to discover more.” Peppiatt’s observation highlighted nebbiolo’s aromatic signature: classic perfume of “rose petal aromatics over light cherry fruit, soft and approachable on entry, lifted by a gentle kick of acid that entices.” She found the back palate “turns earthy and meaty, with cherry fruit resurfacing alongside bright acidity and fine-grained tannins that tie the whole wine together.”
2013 The Hairy Arm Nebbiolo (Museum Release), Heathcote $60 RRP
Iona Baker and Matthew Large chose this wine for their top six wines in the lineup. Baker presented this wine as a masterclass in nebbiolo’s savoury evolution: “Deep garnet in colour, with a glistening surface,” its aromas boast “good depth and complexity of savoury characters – cured meat, balsamic, amaro, cherries, ripe yellow peach, orange peel, and bluestone minerality, inflected with touches of sandy earth and mushrooms.” The palate, she found, is “full of dark cherries, cinnamon spice, meaty bresaola, orange zest, and a hint of amaro-like bitterness,” where “fine silty tannins build a rounded, dense mouthfeel – it feels complete.” Large’s reading emphasized the wine’s stylistic shift: “A lifted nose of coffee, sarsaparilla and tar, with some secondary characters of leather and sun-baked earth peeking through,” he observed. “It’s old-school in style, with great extract – this is a wine that has been moved past the freshness of primary fruit into a savoury and quite serious spectrum.”
Paula Pipan and Andrea Infimo selected this among their top six wines from the blind tasting. Pipan’s assessment captured the wine’s delicate balance: “Showing nebbiolo’s hallmark ‘wicked red dress’ hues, this wine evokes aromas of balsamic and rose water.” She found the palate delivering “lingering flavours of poached strawberries and crushed petal prettiness, finishing with a fine, satisfying chalkiness that highlights its elegance.” Her observation about the winemaking approach – “showing a softer winemaking touch – just enough extraction, while maintaining delicate flavours” – explains its suitability alongside a mushroom risotto. Infimo’s notes revealed additional complexity: “A high-toned and captivating bouquet reveals red rose, poppy and finely perfumed red fruits, recalling cranberry, cherry and wild strawberry.” He identified the palate as “defined by ample yet malleable tannins of a filigreed quality, lending both structure and grace,” describing it as “a wine of finesse that fills the palate with quiet authority and remarkable precision.”
2023 Lambert Nebbiolo, Yarra Valley $80 RRP
Andrea Infimo and Nikki Palun named this as part of their top six wines of the day. “Now this is a drink!” Infimo exclaimed, noting that “the nose is immediately expressive, offering bright, vibrant aromas of wild strawberry, red currant and cherry, accented by blood orange rind, tarragon and toasted fennel seed.” He observed the palate as “more structured than the exuberant bouquet initially suggests, driven by juicy acidity and framed by authentic, ample Nebbiolo tannins.” The wine, he concluded, is “energetic, direct and immensely approachable, it finishes with impressive persistence and clarity.” Palun captured the wine’s convivial nature: “This is the kind of wine that makes you want to pull up a chair and stay for dinner.” She found it “redolent of rhubarb and red cherry, with a hint of pomegranate, rose petal and white pepper,” and praised its palate’s “soft and effortless” character, with “fine tannins and soft acidity that give it a graceful generosity through to a clean, dry, persistent finish.” Her pairing notes – “perfect with duck, quail, charcuterie, or aged cheese – and everything in-between” – speak to its versatility.
2024 Credaro ‘Eredità’ Nebbiolo, Margaret River $48 RRP
Caroline Abbott and Nikki Palun included this wine in their top six wines from the blind tasting. Abbott opened by painting a vivid sensory picture: “A ruby hue in the glass, this opens with pronounced purple floral notes – like wading through a field of wild red and purple pansies.” She found “very ripe juicy purple plums on the nose, with an undertone of freshly cut cherry wood,” and identified “astringent tannins fall right behind the bottom teeth – intellectually intriguing and begging for food.” Abbott’s projection forward – “I’d love to see this wine after three years or so in the cellar to see how the tannins might polymerise and soften to allow for the fruit to pop” – speaks to its food-pairing potential and cellaring promise. Palun perceived the wine differently: “This wine is a little shy, yet utterly beguiling.” She found the palate “explodes with layers of intense plum and pomegranate flavour, underpinned by a gentle acidity and mouth-coating tannins that wrap themselves around you so deliciously that it’s almost impossible to pull away from the wine’s embrace.”
2021 Susuro ‘Farfalla’ Nebbiolo, Pyrenees $40 RRP
Tish Peppiatt selected this wine for her top six wines from the tasting. “A bright, tart cherry nose typical of nebbiolo’s fruit profile, framed by nice tannin structure,” she observed, highlighting how “a slightly herbaceous, capsicum edge adds lift, while a meaty, jamón-like character gives way to a savoury, lingering finish.” Her succinct assessment – “Very enjoyable” – captures the wine’s approachability. “Pair with something traditionally Piedmontese, like agnolotti del plin (pasta stuffed with rabbit) – or go wild and pair it with an aromatic but mildly spicy Indian dish.”
Nikki Palun named this wine among her top six selections from the blind tasting. “The kind of wine that grabs you by the hand before you even see it coming,” she described its immediate impact. She found “a nose of raspberry and maraschino cherry, backed with spicy dashes of cinnamon, liquorice, cayenne, crushed cardamom and black pepper,” noting how “richly layered and textured, with chalky tannins and bright fresh acidity, it’s long and luscious right through the finish. Once this wine has you, you’re not getting away!”
2024 Blue Pyrenees Estate ‘Cellar Door Series’ Nebbiolo, Pyrenees $38 RRP
Paula Pipan chose this wine for her top six wines of the day. Her assessment centered on the wine’s compelling nature: “We were asked to look for compelling wines – and the aromatic and perfumed nose on this wine is truly compelling. It’s a Turkish delight of a belly dancer sipping on mint tea – fragrant, promising a touch of spice.” She found it “grabs you with enough acidity and tannic grip to keep your attention,” describing it as “a highly expressive style of contemporary Australian nebbiolo, and drinking beautifully right now.” Her closing invitation captures the wine’s ethos: “Its message is this: grab a few friends and sip me whilst lounging around the fire. Pass the truffle chips, please!”
Nikki Palun and Tish Peppiatt included this wine in their top six wines from the tasting. Palun encountered narrative depth in this wine: “This feels like a wine that has arrived with a story you weren’t expecting – and now you can’t stop listening.” She identified “a nose of rosehip, hibiscus, red cherry and pomegranate, dusted with a hint of white pepper, sage and nutmeg,” with “a perfumed lift rises through the mid-palate – all dried herb and warm spices – framed by chalky tannins and driven by bright acidity.” Her characterization – “exotic, layered, and completely unforgettable” – speaks volumes. Peppiatt’s take was more direct: “Bright, crunchy sour cherries dominate a wine rich with flavour, beautifully balanced by nebbiolo’s hallmark acid-and-tannin structure — here softer than usual. Easy, juicy and quaffable.”
2024 Il Cattivo Nebbiolo, Adelaide Hills $42 RRP
Iona Baker and Caroline Abbott selected this wine among their top six from the blind tasting. Baker’s entry highlighted the wine’s visual and aromatic appeal: “A medium garnet colour in the glass, with enticing aromas that immediately lift from the glass – red strawberry, red roses in bloom, fresh orange flesh, and a flinty granite edge.” She found the palate “seamless and elegant, with pretty red strawberries and floral notes that glide around the mouth, finishing with a hint of dandelion root–like herbal bitterness.” Abbott’s analysis revealed another dimension entirely: “There’s some cedar-box on the nose, alongside ripe red cherry and a hint of rose petals. On the palate there’s this incredible savory umami spectrum that makes me think of tamari sauce, dried mushroom powder, and tamarind paste – alongside freshly pressed cherry juice and a crunchy salinity I haven’t found present in other nebbiolos.” She noted the wine’s underlying “chalkiness and freshness” with tannins showing “as powdery and fine and coating the whole palate.”
2021 Vino Intrepido ‘Spanna in the Works’ Nebbiolo, Pyrenees $47 RRP
Iona Baker named this wine among her top six wines from the blind tasting. Her extended commentary captured the wine’s multi-layered nature: “This wine is immediately beautiful just to look at – its garnet surface glistens brightly, and its light brick-coloured rim hints at some bottle age. Great nebbiolo always has an abundance of aromas to draw you in, and here they are jumping from the glass – first a matchstick and gravel mineral edge, flowing to savoury bresaola, worn leather, earthy truffles, lavender stems and dried thyme backed with fresher fruit nuances of red cherries and blueberries, then finally evolving to exotic lapsang souchong tea leaf.” On the palate, she found it “textural, with cotton-like tannins providing a frame for a silky thread linking the flavours together,” with “a fresh cherry character” balanced by “a pleasant and appealing umami quality – almost balsamic and salty – that makes me think this would be brilliant alongside duck with cherries or mushrooms.”
2021 Spider Bill Wines Nebbiolo, Adelaide Hills $45 RRP
Paula Pipan and Tish Peppiatt chose this wine for their top six selections from the tasting. Pipan positioned this wine in the broader context: “Positioned on the lighter, fresher end of the nebbiolo spectrum, this wine offers a more nuanced profile than most.” She identified “a subtle nose of crushed rose petal and crunchy redcurrant fruit leads into a delicate palate of cherry and sweet cola spice,” noting how it “wears its tannins gracefully, finishing with a silky smoothness.” Her pairing suggestion – “Best enjoyed with a simple plate of Piedmontese tajarin pasta tossed in sage butter” – reflects its elegant restraint. Peppiatt found “a red raspberry nose gives way to a lovely, moreish palate with rich rose petal character — true to nebbiolo’s aromatic signature. Nice acidity and gentle tannins combine for a seamless mouthfeel across the palate.”
2021 La Villa Nebbiolo, Tasmania $42 RRP
Paula Pipan selected this wine for her top six wines from the blind tasting. “A broodier, more contemplative style of nebbiolo,” she observed, finding “aromas of dried rose petals and anise are complemented by smoky tobacco and liquorice.” She noted that “there is a bit of oak here, but it’s not in your face – the wine glides quite smoothly over the tongue.” Her assessment of the winemaking philosophy – “the more extractive style of winemaking here shows the darker, tarry side of the variety” – explains its optimal pairing: “Best enjoyed at the dinner table, ideally with a slow-cooked wild boar ragù.”
Matthew Large named this wine as part of his top six wines of the day. His perspective challenged conventional wisdom: “A nose of diverse spices and florals, nestled in gunflint-like reduction upon opening.” He admitted, “I don’t normally like reduction in nebbiolo – but there’s real intrigue in the way this wine weaves that slightly smoky reduction through the palate, and the way the rose petal character is still able to shine through.” His conclusion captured the wine’s distinctive character: “A thought-provoking wine that takes the variety to an interesting and unusually pretty space,” with tannins that are “fine and long – very elegant.”
Nikki Palun included this wine in her top six wines from the tasting. “This wine feels like a soft smile from across the other side of the room,” she opened poetically. She found it opening “with notes of strawberry, pomegranate and rose petal, accented with a hint of violet, white pepper, star anise and raspberry,” with a palate showing “a perfumed red cherry lift, with firm chalky tannins and bright acidity – all dry and dusty through to a long finish.” Her closing observation encapsulates the wine’s effect: “One glass is enough to make the whole world soften at the edges.”
Tish Peppiatt selected this wine for her top six wines of the day. “Dill and fresh herb notes on the nose sit above lifted red cherries, leading into a meaty, prosciutto-like finish,” she noted of this idiosyncratic expression. She identified “juicy cherry fruit carries through on a relatively low-acid palate — an atypical, softer expression of the variety. That softness makes the wine eminently approachable – a lovely entry-point for the nebbiolo-curious drinker to start cutting their teeth on this sometimes-difficult variety.”
Nikki Palun and Andrea Infimo named this wine among their top six selections from the blind tasting. Palun championed this wine as a case study: “This is such a great example of why we should make more nebbiolo in Australia.” She found it opening “with a nose of sour cherry, morello cherry and dried figs, layered with hints of cardamom, orange peel, and raspberry,” with red plum and pomegranate dominating “through the mid-palate, framed by drying tannins and bright, lifted acidity.” Her assessment – “It’s long and mineral all the way through to a clean, dry finish – classic, considered, and completely at ease with itself” – speaks to its maturity and balance. Infimo perceived it as “a more extracted and decadent expression of nebbiolo, yet no less compelling for it.” He noted how “dark fruit, oak and concentration are complemented by evolving tertiary notes of tar and savoury meatiness,” while the wine “nevertheless retains composure and drive, carrying its considerable weight through to a long, resonant finish.”
2025 Mount Towrong Vineyard Nebbiolo, Macedon Ranges $45 RRP
Andrea Infimo chose this wine for his top six wines from the tasting. His assessment emphasized purity and refinement: “Clean, perfumed and high-toned, this is a wine of purity and definition. Floral notes and pristine red fruits sit at the forefront, supported by hints of sloe berry.” Despite its youthful character, he identified “considerable class and elegance,” with “polished tannins and vibrant acidity provide shape and energy, while the overall impression is one of detail, refinement and balance.”
2011 The Hairy Arm Nebbiolo (Museum Release), Heathcote $50 RRP
Iona Baker named this wine among her top six wines from the blind tasting. Her presentation captured a study in contrasts: “This wine marries old-school elegance with modern vibrancy. It’s old-school due to its savoury nose of dried earth, forest floor and spices of dried anise, thyme and rose potpourri – but with lighter, youthful notes of fresh violets and mandarin flesh.” She found the palate similarly paradoxical: “It’s old-school with its densely ripe, chewy flavours of dark cherries, its aged balsamic qualities, and its exotic notes of sweeter cardamom spice – yet it’s brightened by wild, tart strawberries, rosehip tea, and gentian botanicals.” Her observation of how the wine evolves – “As these lighter and brighter elements linger, they create a charming and graceful essence to the wine – it becomes prettier and even more appealing with each taste” – captures its living, breathing nature.
2024 TarraWarra Estate Nebbiolo, Yarra Valley $50 RRP
Abbott selected this wine among her top six wines from the tasting, describing “such a burst of juicy fruits on the nose – blood orange and pomegranate juice, red cherries so ripe and juicy that they’re splitting, a hint of fresh bay leaf at the end. The nose immediately made me want to like this wine! The palate is inviting – more approachable and straightforward than some nebbiolos – and carried through by acidity, while some warmth from the alcohol prolongs the finish. The tannins are a bit more shy here, playing a background role, just speckling the lips and the sides of the tongue. I’d love to drink this with a simple red-sauce pasta – just a touch of onion, garlic and Parmigiano Reggiano – or a Margherita pizza. This is such a great food wine – especially for those who aren’t overly familiar with nebbiolo and may find some other examples too cerebral or challenging at first taste.”
2018 Dal Zotto ‘L’Immigrante’ Nebbiolo, King Valley $92 RRP
Paula Pipan included this wine in her top six wines from the blind tasting. She found distinction in fragrance: “Presenting a beautiful garnet colour, this stands out as one of the most fragrant wines in the lineup. It grabs your attention with a gorgeous nose of pretty floral petals and dried potpourri that carries onto a softly-textured palate with enough acidity to liven up its finish.” Her pairing recommendation – “This would pair well with a pan-seared duck breast” – suggests its refined savouriness.
2024 GKLR Nebbiolo, Heathcote $38 RRP
Large included this wine in his top six wines from the tasting, describing “a brooding nose of cola, anise, leather and tar. There is some richness of fruit here – think blood plum and cassis – but the fine tannin, chewy and long, gives enough extract and interest to bring the palate into a more savoury spectrum. The intensity of flavour leads to a long finish that leaves an impression on the palate – allowing you time to ponder the riper, darker spectrum of flavour and lovely tannins that this wine showcases.”
2017 Topper’s Mountain Nebbiolo (Museum Release), New England $55 RRP
Baker selected this wine among her top six wines from the blind tasting. “This wine intrigues with its dark and brooding nature – an opaque garnet core, deep aromas, and dark flavours,” she said. “It immediately shows the classic nebbiolo aroma descriptors of earth and tar – a basalt-like mineral tone, mushrooms and black olive tapenade – yet is also lightened and balanced by hints of burnt orange zest and eucalyptus. While the aromas lean savoury, the palate is dense with black cherry flavours and even plum-like fruit notes, accented by touches of dark chocolate, coffee beans and rosemary. I love the generous and velvety tannins, which create a rich and dark mouthfeel. This is a wine to be enjoyed on a cold and stormy winter night, curled up safe and warm by the fire.”
2025 Denton ‘View Hill’ Nebbiolo, Yarra Valley $38 RRP
Large chose this wine for his top six wines of the day. He leaned into the wine’s pretty side: “sappy wild strawberries, raspberry pips, and anise on the nose. This leans towards the sweet, pretty and slightly jubey style of nebbiolo – but there is also some lift and detail on display. It’s very floral and high-toned, showing rosewater and jasmine notes. The tannins are persistent, and frame a long, talc-y finish. A bright and pretty take on Australian nebbiolo – and one with great drinkability.”
2017 The Hairy Arm Nebbiolo (Museum Release), Heathcote $45 RRP
Caroline Abbott included this wine in her top six wines from the blind tasting. “Richer on the nose than most others, showing fresh bay leaf and marjoram,” she noted, observing that “this wine smells powerful – and it doesn’t disappoint on the palate.” She identified how “the extra glycerol from a slightly higher alcohol content adds body and a touch of sweetness to the wine, complementing the red liquorice notes that are reminiscent of the chewy string candies from my childhood.” Her description of the wine’s finish – “leading to a finish that sings out into a sweet medley of Luxardo cherries and candied pomegranate arils” – captures its sensory richness.
2025 Vignerons Schmolzer & Brown Nebbiolo, Beechworth $46 RRP
Pipan selected this wine among her top six wines from the blind tasting, describing “encountered towards the end of a long line-up of often-challenging wines, this one provided some blessed sensory relief! It opens with an expressive waft of dried citrus fruit and candied orange peel. The amaro-laced palate gives structural substance, offering plenty of chalkiness to chew over. I am a sucker for orange peel and amaro flavours in a nebb – and this one has them in spades. Partner this with a crispy-skinned, slow-roasted porchetta dish.”
The backstory
Nebbiolo. It’s one of those revered words. The lights dim. Eyes widen. The chatter quietens to a murmur. Well, metaphorically at least. For those held in its thrall, nebbiolo holds a grip like no other grape. It is the great grape of Piedmont – indeed, many believe it is unequivocally the great grape of Italy – responsible for both Barolo and Barbaresco, but it has also found an important place in Australia, especially in cooler elevated vineyard sites.
One of Italy’s most important grape varieties, most identify it with the Langhe, and more famously and specifically with the long-lived wines of Barolo and Barbaresco from Piedmont, in Italy’s north-west. Although it makes some of Italy’s most revered and expensive wines, nebbiolo isn’t widely planted, being somewhat dwarfed by dolcetto and even more so by barbera in Piedmont, and only existing meaningfully in neighbouring Lombardy in the cold and impossibly steep terraced vineyards of Valtellina. Nebbiolo is also grown in cooler zones to the north of Piedmont’s Langhe, such as Boca, Ghemme, Bramaterra and Carema, where it makes for considerably nervier offerings, which are seeing a resurgence of interest, perhaps partially facilitated by a warming climate.
But, for such a distinguished, characterful variety, Nebbiolo is not that widely grown.
“Nebbiolo is a paradox, a combination of elements that shouldn’t make sense. But they do.”
Above: nebbiolo grapes on vine. Opposite: Paula Pipan of Pipan Steel at our Deep Dive. In 2008, Paula and Radley Steel planted what is believed to be Australia’s first dedicated nebbiolo project in Victoria’s Alpine Valleys, establishing ‘Pipan Steel’, where they now cultivate three clones across 2,000 closely planted nebbiolo vines
Nebbiolo around the world
Although its reputation as a grape capable of making some of the world’s finest wines, nebbiolo has not been planted around the world as much as similarly noble grapes like pinot noir and cabernet sauvignon. This has a bit to do with Italian wines, and in turn varieties, not having the same stature as French ones until late in the 20th century, but the proliferation of sangiovese around the world suggest this is not the only reason. As the small growing areas in Italy illustrate, nebbiolo is not the most adaptable of grapes, excelling in certain conditions but struggling in most others. Outside of Italy, Nebbiolo is grown sparingly, with smatterings in California and further up the West Coast in the cooler states, such as Oregon and Washington. USA and Australia are both still in the relatively early phases of exploring the territories with best potential, as well as mastering the complexities of growing and making.
Finding a Home Down Under
In the mid-1980s, Carlo Corino planted nebbiolo in New South Wales’ Mudgee region, releasing the wine under his Montrose label. However, it soon became clear that the area’s warm climate was not conducive to producing high-quality nebbiolo. Since then, the tendrils of nebbiolo have spread to more climate appropriate regions of Australia.
While the numbers are low in volume terms (the 2023 National Vintage Reports shows production of nebbiolo was around 1/18th of sangiovese; or less than 1/1,200th of Australia’s shiraz production!), the variety has since found pockets of real promise across the country.
The Adelaide Hills stands well clear as the variety’s spiritual home in Australia, accounting for by far the largest number of winemaker bottlings of any region. Victoria runs a strong second, with a real concentration of producers in Heathcote and a further cluster spread across King Valley, Beechworth and the Pyrenees/Grampians, while over the border in NSW, Hilltops and the wider Central Ranges have become a notable home for the variety in their own right.
In Victoria’s King Valley, where Italian immigrant families turned more resolutely to commercial viticulture following the demise of the local tobacco industry, the Pizzini’s planted their first vines – riesling – in the late 1970s. It wasn’t until around 1987 that Pizzini planted nebbiolo, making it the first nebbiolo vines in the King Valley, and nebbiolos first successful step in Australia after Corino’s groundbreaking efforts in Mudgee. Today, Pizzini have 6 hecaters of nebbiolo, and make up to three bottlings of nebbiolo (vintage dependant), and King Valley has become one of the significant homes for the variety in Australia.
Opposite: Longview vineyard in Adelaide Hills. Above: Brian Freeman.
While in Victoria’s Pyrenees region, the Malakoff has for some time been a moniker of significant prestige for nebbiolo winemakers. Their first nebbiolo vines were planted in 2000, and now constituting around 5 hectares of the variety, with customers including the likes of Handpicked Wines, Lethbridge, Willow Creek, Shadow fax, Bowerbird, Praeter, Tar & Roses, and Latta. Nebbiolo buds early and ripens very late, and needs extended hang time on the vine for its tannins to soften even once sugars have plateaued – a tightrope that becomes unworkable if a site runs too warm. It’s this tension Robert John is managing at Malakoff, and he notes that although the nebbiolo can be picked either early or late, making contrasting styles, the vineyard character is still a defining feature. “The style for the earlier picks is a lighter, fresh and very approachable and fragrant style, while the later picks show stronger flavours of spice, cherry and tarry characters. However, both styles exhibit our terroir showing a beautiful rose petal bouquet, which is very recognisable for all nebbiolos from our vineyard.”
Underpinning Adelaide Hills’ status as nebbiolo’s Australian heartland is Longview, home to what’s believed to be the country’s most prolific nebbiolo vineyard – eight hectares, with the oldest plantings now 26 years old. “We think we might have the largest vineyard area of nebbiolo in the country,” says Longview viticulturist Chris Mein. The vineyard’s collection has since grown to seven different clones. “Nebbiolo is fast becoming the rising star of Hills reds… Autumn fogs are a common occurrence during harvest, much like the conditions seen in Piedmont during their nebbiolo harvest,” Mein says. Longview’s fruit also finds its way into an impressive roster of other producers’ wines, supplying the likes of Elderslie, La Prova, XO Wines, Somos, Abbeville, Hills Collide, Spider Bill, Architects of Wine, Solita, First Drop, Hills and Back, and Varney Wines.
Further north in New South Wales, viticulturist Dr Brian Freeman – one of the country’s foremost champions of alternative varieties – has been growing nebbiolo since 1999, with plantings expanding meaningfully from the mid-2000s to today’s five hectares. That fruit goes into Freeman’s own label as well as being sold to Ravensworth and a handful of other producers. Freeman now grows seven different clones of his own, though he holds that how the vines are grown and cropped has a greater bearing on quality than the differences between clones themselves.
Adelaide Hills: A Confounding Obsession
No account of nebbiolo in Australia is complete without Stephen Pannell, whose obsession with the variety began not with a moment of love at first taste, but with confusion. His first brush with Barolo, back in the 1980s, left him cold – “I didn’t really like it, I didn’t really revel in it.” The real spark came a decade later, at a tasting of the celebrated 1996 vintage that included a Bruno Giacosa – still his favourite producer in the world – and a Pira. What struck Pannell was how completely nebbiolo inverted the usual rules of red wine. “It’s all about the aromatics and the perfume,” he says. “It’s not about colour, it’s not about weight – in fact it’s about a lack of weight, but it still remains a wine that’s tannic.” Where a big Shiraz asks nothing of the drinker, nebbiolo, he found, “made you think when you drank it.”
Stephen Pannell. “It’s all about the aromatics and the perfume,” he says. “It’s not about colour, it’s not about weight – in fact it’s about a lack of weight, but it still remains a wine that’s tannic.”
That fascination sent Pannell to Barolo itself in 2004, quitting his job at Hardy’s – who wouldn’t grant him leave, on the grounds it wasn’t relevant to his work – and relocating his young family to live and work with the Vajra family for a vintage. Aldo Vajra, for reasons Pannell still isn’t entirely sure of, handed him real responsibility from the outset, and word of the young Australian winemaker spread through the district; he became especially close with the late Beppe Rinaldi during his time there.
Back home, and armed with that grounding, Pannell made a modest hundred cases of nebbiolo in 2005 from vines planted by Frank Valmorbida in the Adelaide Hills – not expecting much interest in “pink, tannic water” from Australian drinkers. It was David Gleave, of UK importer Liberty Wines, who saw the wine’s potential before the market did, insisting on buying the entire parcel. Gleave later staged a series of blind tastings in London, slipping Pannell’s nebbiolo into brackets alongside top Barolo and Barbaresco producers for a room of Italian winemakers and sommelier. Nobody picked the Australian wines; one winemaker, tasting blind, offered that the wine “could be from the Langhe.” Some of the assembled Italians, on discovering the truth, reportedly stormed out.
Pannell and his family bought their own Adelaide Hills vineyard six years ago – and four days after signing the papers, it was burnt out in a bushfire. Eighty per cent of the site was subsequently pulled out, leaving six acres of nebbiolo planted in 1990 and 1999 to build the wine around. It’s here that Pannell points to a telling piece of evidence against the idea that Australia runs too warm for the variety. Because nebbiolo’s whole challenge is ripening tannins while sugars stay in check, the stat cuts to the heart of the debate: across the 2021, 2022 and 2023 vintages, he struggled to push ripeness above 13° Baumé in his vineyard – Baumé being the scale winemakers use to measure sugar levels in the grape, and by extension the rough potential alcohol of the finished wine – at a time when growers in Barolo were fighting to keep their own fruit under 15° Baumé.
The Yarra Valley and Beyond: A Singular Pursuit
Luke Lambert, one of Australia’s most devoted disciples of the nebbiolo grape, released his first nebbiolo wines in 2005 – the same vintage as Pannell’s own debut, on the other side of the country. “I was hooked on nebbiolo from the first glass,” Lambert says. “Loved the perfume, high acid, structure and flavour spectrum that was so different to anything I’d had before. The more I learnt and drank, the more interesting the variety seemed. So reflective of site. So diverse in style.”
“I was hooked on nebbiolo from the first glass.”
Above and opposite: Lambert's Sparkletown nebbiolo vineyard
After a time of sourcing fruit from Heathcote, Luke made a change to Yarra Valley fruit from the 2011 vintage, beginning a partnership with John and Simon Denton and their ‘View Hill’ vineyard – an isolated hill in the middle of the Yarra Valley, formed 370 million years ago by a volcanic granite plug, its granitic sandy soils over boulders making it unique in the region. “The granite gives very high perfume lift, high acid, bright red fruit as a young wine that splits into really complex secondary/savoury characters,” Lambert says of the site. Since 2013, when Lambert released his first Nebbiolo made entirely from Denton fruit, the granitic soils have shone through in the wines, with a cooling mineral mouthfeel, bright red fruit and aniseed, and firm powdery tannins carrying the length. That partnership with the Dentons has since come to an end, with Lambert’s focus shifting fully to his own site.
Cool Years, Warm Years: What the Bottle Reveals
Looking back across the Denton line-up, Lambert loosely groups the vintages into two camps: cooler harvests – 2015 and 2017 – where summer temperatures stayed out of the high 30s and rain was consistent through the season, and warmer harvests – 2013, 2014, 2016 and 2019 – with elevated temperatures, a drier season and high sunshine hours. (No wine was made in 2020, held back on quality grounds.) “Looking back at what we’ve made off the Denton site it’s clear the wines from cool and warm years are quite different and it’s heartening to see them develop and improve over the years,” Lambert says. “Weirdly, the two wines that looked the worst early on – 2013 and 2014 – are now in my view drinking the best.”
The 2014 has become something of a case study in just how much a young nebbiolo can mislead. “My preference has always been the cooler years, but with bottle maturity the warmer years really shine and lose their puppy fat and raw fruitiness to become the variety and build elegance,” Lambert says. “I always thought the 2014 was the worst wine we’d made. In its first six years it looked raisoned and desiccated and not varietal at all. As a somewhat mature wine now it’s really become the variety and has quite clean and typical varietal character.” For Lambert, it’s also a reassuring sign for a warming climate: with nebbiolo’s long hang time deep into autumn, “there’s plenty of room for nebbiolo to still ripen” even as summers heat up – “it’s future proofed and in many ways a great fit for some sites/microclimates in some regions of Australia.”
Opposite and above: Luke Lambert and his winery cellar.
“Weirdly, the two wines that looked the worst early on – 2013 and 2014 – are now in my view drinking the best. This may just be a function of hitting that sweet spot in maturity and bottle evolution.”
“Nebbiolo in Australia will always be fickle, and demanding, and hard work,” he says, “but the overall quality will only improve in time. The good news is, it’ll always reflect the site and the vintage and for me that’s the magic of the variety and the wine in the glass.”
In 2017, Luke purchased land in the Yea Valley near Murrindindi, around 25 minutes’ drive north of the Yarra Valley – a north-east facing slope drawing him in for its rocky soils and a greater diurnal shift than the Yarra offers. He planted it with multiple clones of nebbiolo and named the vineyard Sparkletown, after a visit with his daughter on a day the sun was reflecting off the distant rocks. 2025 is looking to be the first vintage from the site. “We’re planning on at least a couple of years on foudre and a year to settle in bottle so it’ll likely be 2028 before we’re releasing the wine,” Lambert says. “It’ll be the first wine that we’ve made that we selected a site, bought a property, established a vineyard and had full control the whole way through. It’s a big deal for me and all I’ve ever wanted to do.”
“After 20 years of working with, and thinking about the variety, I’m still trying to figure out what’s happening in the vineyard,” says Lambert. “We’ve such different conditions to Piedmont that a lot of those practices that are common place there just aren’t relevant to our big open blue sky and old acidic soils. It’s a vine-by-vine approach that really needs a lot of work on canopy and crop management. Unless those things are done correctly and at the right time, you’re stuffed. It’s maybe the least forgiving and fickle variety around. Give me another 20 years and there may be some firm answers here, but I suspect all decisions will still be made by assessing each vine as you’re standing in front of it.”
Alpine Valleys: Chasing the Perfect Site
For Paula Pipan and Radley Steel, finding a home for nebbiolo wasn’t a matter of working with what they had – it was a deliberate, nationwide search. Having caught the bug tasting Barolo and other Piedmontese wines, the pair scoured Australia’s winegrowing regions, from the Hunter Valley to Margaret River, before settling on a half-hectare site in Mudgegonga, in Victoria’s Alpine Valleys, which they planted in 2008 and 2009. At 400 metres elevation, bathed in winter fog and with a wide diurnal temperature range, the site’s climate frequently mirrors Barolo’s. “If you squint really hard, you can see the similarity with the rolling hills of Piedmont – though sadly, no castle on each hilltop,” Pipan says. Nebbiolo is the only variety grown there. “Stylistically, it’s our intention to make nebbiolo that nods to its Italian heritage, but is very much Australian in nature,” she says – “one that entices the drinker with inviting aromatics, backed up with balanced flavours, chalky textures and smooth, long finish.”
“It doesn’t tend to travel well to other places – it’s quite finicky as a variety in other parts of the world. So it’s interesting that it works here.”
Above and opposite: the Pipan Steel vineyard in the Alpine Valleys. “Location, location, location. Nebbiolo needs to be in the hills, preferably inland,” explains Pipan.
That precision extends to how the vineyard is planted, and each clone has since proven to have its own personality. Three clones – sourced from Italy’s Gruppo Matura and known simply as 7, 9 and 10 – are planted in repeating rows across the site, so any variation in soil or aspect is felt equally by all three, isolating differences in the finished wines to clone alone rather than site. “Each clone has different growth habits,” Pipan says. “Clone 10 is very self-contained – not too much canopy, not too much fruit. Clone 9 is the opposite: lots of canopy, lots of fruit, and it’s the one that requires the most canopy management and crop thinning. Clone 7 sits somewhere between the two.” That divergence carries through into the glass, too: “Clone 10 is generally the most savoury, with flavours that tend toward orange peel and amaro if you’re patient enough to wait for some bottle age. Clone 9 is quite perfumed – the most pinot-esque of the three. Clone 7 is all about texture.” Each is vinified identically and bottled separately as a result, with a fourth wine, Tesoro, blending all three.
Beyond the clones themselves, Pipan is quick to point out that nothing here is static from year to year. “Wines from each vintage are different,” she says. “Flavour, acid and tannin profile are directly related to the heat accumulation across the growing season, and greater complexity of flavours comes with longer vine age.” Clonal success is also inseparable from site: “Clonal selection needs to be matched to site. Clone 10 is beautifully balanced in our vineyard – others report that it doesn’t fruit at all on theirs.” That kind of attentiveness has led to real changes in the vineyard: recently, Pipan and Steel added an extra foliage wire to the trellising. “The canopy is quite high now, but we’re no longer fighting the vine’s natural tendency for shoot growth,” she says. “Far happier vines – and therefore far happier vignerons.” The change suits nebbiolo’s long ripening season in particular. As the season wears on, the vine naturally sheds its older leaves closer to the base of the shoot – the ones that did the early-season work – once they’ve reached the end of their useful life. “So having more of the newer leaves further up the shoot, which are the ones actually doing the work of turning sunlight into sugar and flavour at that later stage, means you can ensure flavour development right through to harvest,” Pipan explains.
Even within Alpine Valleys, Pipan draws a clear distinction between her site and its near neighbours. “Our site faces Mt Buffalo and Mt Hotham, so slightly cooler than Beechworth and King Valley,” she says. “We tend to pick later than Beechworth and King Valley nebbiolos – the extra hang time theoretically allows for extra flavour development… Beechworth tends to produce bigger, more tannic-style wines and usually earlier release. We look for aroma retention, slow maturation and later release.” Distilled down, Pipan doesn’t think nebbiolo asks for anything especially complicated – just specific: “Location, location, location. Nebbiolo needs to be in the hills, preferably inland, and planted down the hill for frost drainage. And keep the crop load low, for greater intensity of flavour and tannin.”
“The end objective is to make Australian Nebbiolo. What is that? That’s the task.”
What Does Nebbiolo Taste Like?
Nebbiolo is a paradox, a combination of elements that shouldn’t make sense. But they do.
One of the most distinctive grapes of them all, nebbiolo can achieve high ripeness while retaining lots of acidity. Unlike many grapes, the fruit doesn’t necessarily become rich and sweet fruited at higher ripeness, usually looking somewhat savoury with ample grippy tannins.
Set against profound tannins, it can be fragrantly pretty and floral, as well as ruggedly mineral and dry toned – and often simultaneously so. It conveys nuance of site like few varieties, and it can produce staggeringly long-lived wines. It is like no other grape. As Pannell puts it, it starts out lighter in colour and only gets darker with age – the opposite trajectory to almost every other red variety.
Nebbiolo can vary from pretty expressions that emphasise red berries, cranberry, red currants, sour red cherries and the like and classic rose petal notes, while more serious examples will often look more savoury, with dried flowers and red fruit, and spices like star anise, as well as being very reflective of the soil, with dry-toned earthy and mineral notes.
The Task Ahead
For all its newfound success in Australian soil, nebbiolo remains something of an anomaly – a grape that has, historically, refused to travel. “The funny thing is it doesn’t tend to travel well to other places – it’s quite finicky as a variety in other parts of the world,” Pannell says. “So it’s interesting that it works here.”
That success hasn’t yet translated into the kind of blanket confidence Australian winemakers have earned with other imported varieties, and it’s a discrepancy that frustrates Pannell. “There’s a negativity in the marketplace about our potential with sangiovese and nebbiolo in this country that doesn’t exist with pinot and chardonnay – there’s been optimism and encouragement there instead. I don’t know why those two things are different. I have no problem with optimism and encouraging new varieties in this country, but I wish that optimism was applied across the board, not just to one or two particular varieties. It’s easier with a variety that isn’t so world-renowned – you’re just making a wine people can drink. Whereas with nebbiolo, the difficulty is how we make Australian nebbiolo, and that journey takes time, rather than being compared to Barolo constantly. That’s not the end objective. The end objective is to make Australian nebbiolo. What is that? That’s the task.”
Outtakes from the tasting
We gathered every example of Australian nebbiolo that we could find, and set our expert panel the task of finding the wines that compelled the most. All wines were tasted blind, and each panellist named their top six wines.
Peppiatt kicked off the discussion by observing that the tasting line-up excelled in terms of both quality and diversity. “It’s interesting to see, because there were a lot of very different approaches to winemaking, but I think overall, the calibre was pretty high,” she said. “We’ve seen some delicious wines – they’re ranging from the more tannin-driven style, to more juicy examples, and there’s quite pretty styles too, with those rose petal notes really coming through – but I think the calibre’s up there.” Comparing the lineup to her recent tasting experience at our Deep Dive into pinot meunier, she added, “At the pinot meunier tasting, I also thought the calibre was high, but there very much was a box and all the wines were in it – whereas this one, winemakers were reaching it all over, but they all still had merit and purpose to them.” While she conceded that not every example of nebbiolo in the lineup was successful in terms of its making, she argued that the wines that didn’t cohere had their own inherent value: “I love that we play with our wines, and that we do mess with them a little bit,” she said. “There’s obviously that nice bell curve that comes from exploring different techniques – we take it to an extreme and then we go, ‘Oh, that was maybe a little bit too far’. But there’s no really one right way to tackle it.”
Opposite: Tish Peppiatt. Above: Paula Pipan. Our panel gathered at Osteria Renata, Prahran (Melbourne).
Pipan concurred with Peppiatt about the diversity of styles. “It’s great to see the diversity, I reckon,” she said. “People having a go, having a crack – for their area, making it their way. I like that.” She added, “Some of the wines were simple, maybe, but they were still gluggable. There wasn’t much faultiness, I didn’t think.” This comment about the lack of faults kicked off a discussion about volatile acidity (VA) – a winemaking issue that is somewhat inextricable from traditional nebbiolo styles globally owing to the extended maceration of the skins in the wine after primary alcoholic fermentation has finished. “I think VA is kind of part and parcel of nebbiolo,” Baker observed. Pipan agreed: “Often when you’re leaving it on skins for a long time, the top layer will get a little bit of VA on it – it’s just how much.” Infimo added that, for him, the best examples of nebbiolo would show small quantities of VA initially, but that this wouldn’t mar the experience of drinking the wines: “Yes, you see that initial VA, but it blows off very quickly – and the result on the palate is amazing.”
“There’s obviously that nice bell curve that comes from exploring different techniques – we take it to an extreme and then we go, ‘Oh, that was maybe a little bit too far’. But there’s no really one right way to tackle it.”
“I think the VA is more of a common thing in Australia,” Abbott said, reflecting on her experience with international examples of the variety. “I also found a little bit of spritziness on a few of the wines, which surprised me. But overall, there were definitely not as many faults as I’ve tasted in European nebbiolo wines.” While she agreed with Peppiatt about the high quality of the line-up across the board, she also argued that some of the wines were perhaps a little more ambitious than they should be. “Some I wanted to drink a whole bottle of, but I was like, ‘This isn’t complex enough to make my top six’,” she said. “And some others were way more serious – but they didn’t have all the structure that I was looking for. These were looking more rich – maybe warmer climate, maybe more alcohol, a little bit darker or whatever – but they were lacking a full structure. But overall, I thought the wines were great.”
Opposite: Caroline Abbott. Above: Andrea Infimo. Our panel gathered at Osteria Renata, Prahran (Melbourne).
Infimo argued that the famously finicky variety isn’t especially suited to most parts of Australia’s winegrowing regions. “My theory is that there’s very few pockets in Australia that make very good nebbiolo,” he said. He highlighted in particular two Victorian cool-climate regions: “Beechworth and Alpine Valleys – I call these the cradle for nebbiolo in Australia. When people talk to me about Beechworth pinot – pardon my French here – I’m like, ‘No, just fuck it off – the red variety of Beechworth is nebbiolo’.” Large added that he thought the Adelaide Hills could likewise grow compelling nebbiolo, to which Infimo agreed. “But we’re probably getting sidetracked here – because when I find out what my favourite wines today actually are, probably none of them will be from Beechworth or the Adelaide Hills!” Large joked.
“When people talk to me about Beechworth pinot – pardon my French here – I’m like, ‘No, just f**k it off – the red variety of Beechworth is nebbiolo’.”
This talk of the way that blind tastings can challenge preconceptions turned into a discussion about the use of new oak in nebbiolo – something that Infimo said he was opposed to in theory, but that the day’s tasting had softened his stance towards. “I was penalising a lot of wines that I thought looked over-oaked,” he said. “But then there were some wines that looked completely oaked – but they were in balance, and they somehow also tasted like nebbiolo.” Large agreed, and added that new oak and nebbiolo was a topic that required nuance rather than blanket rules. “If someone was to ask me, I’d say, as a general rule, I really don’t like new oak and nebbiolo,” he said. “But there’s some classic Italian examples that do manage it really well. And there were a couple of wines in there today that, I think, are moving in that direction.” He added that winemakers could use a number of different approaches to create similar styles of wines. “Oak is a tool – and it can be used well to increase tannin and concentration and move flavour in a particular direction,” he said. “You can also do a similar thing with maceration, when you’re plunging the skins or pumping over. There’s lots of tools where maybe you’re always at a fork in the road – you can either go the pretty road or the more extracted road. So I feel like there were some dense, quite extracted examples today that weren’t necessarily using oak to get there – but then there were also some that used oak to get them to a similar place. So as long as the oak wasn’t all over the fruit, I definitely wasn’t dogmatic about it.”
“It’s got to be something that you can drink. There were quite a few wines in there where I thought, ‘Okay, there isn’t a lot of complexity here’ – but, shit, they were nice.”
Opposite: Iona Baker. Above: Matt Large. Our panel gathered at Osteria Renata, Prahran (Melbourne).
Baker added that judiciously handled oak wasn’t just about texture and structure, but could also add appealing flavour to nebbiolo. “The oak, in some circumstances, almost came across as more of a slightly sweeter spice, as opposed to wood,” she said. “I’ve written that there’s a little bit of cinnamon or a little bit of clove in there, but I haven’t mentioned wood.” For her, the issue of oak use in nebbiolo was inextricable from the question of ripeness and fruit concentration: “With the wines where I was like, ‘Oh, gee, that’s woody,’ or ‘Those are oak tannins,’ those were just that little bit lighter in colour,” she said. “I know that nebbiolo is not about colour, but that lightness might indicate perhaps they didn’t have the fruit ripeness for the oak treatment that it had. It might have worked well in a previous vintage for the winemaker, but in this vintage it hadn’t worked so well.”
“It’s got to be something that you can drink. There were quite a few wines in there where I thought, ‘Okay, there isn’t a lot of complexity here’ – but, shit, they were nice.”
The discussion about new oak – which is an inherently expensive winemaking technique to deploy owing to the cost of barrels – raised the issue of whether or not Australian nebbiolo should pursue a path of premiumisation. Infimo argued that the difficulty of growing the variety necessarily impacted its price point. “It’s a bitch to grow,” he said. “Like it’s just really about how you need that long hang time for the variety to express itself.” Pipan agreed on the viticultural difficulty for truly fine examples of nebbiolo, but countered that there was a role in the market for styles of nebbiolo that are more approachable from both a palate and a budget perspective. “I think there’s plenty of room for entry-level wines as well – things that are great lunch wines,” she said. “It doesn’t have to be pheasant under glass. It’s got to be something that you can drink. There were quite a few wines in there where I thought, ‘Okay, there isn’t a lot of complexity here’ – but, shit, they were nice.”
Opposite: Nikki Palun at the Nebbiolo Deep Dive. Above: Our panel gathered at Osteria Renata, Prahran (Melbourne).
Palun added that there was a certain degree of inherent unapproachability about the variety – but that doesn’t mean that the variety would be relegated to a niche. “I do a lot of consumer tastings, and some of the wines today are maybe a little bit unapproachable from a consumer perspective,” she said. “But I think they’re absolutely delicious – they go really well with food.” She added, “I think nebbiolo has infinite possibility here. And there’s an idea that certain regions in Australia are great for nebbiolo – Beechworth’s great, certain other reasons are great. But I’m beginning to look at other regions like Heathcote, for example – and they do really lovely, interesting nebbiolos. So, to me, it’s still an evolving category.” She concluded by noting that the consumers who had fallen in love with the variety were happy to pay a premium for good examples of it: “It actually is one of those grape varieties that a consumer is happy to pay a lot of money for – it’s captured the consumer the imagination, right? But it’s got to be beautiful.”
The Panel
Paula Pipan transitioned from a career in medical laboratories to winemaking after earning a degree from Charles Sturt University. She gained hands-on experience with vintages in the Hunter Valley, Margaret River, and Italy’s Piedmont, followed by full-time roles at local wineries, including Brown Brothers. In 2008, Paula and Radley Steel planted what they understand to be Australia’s first vineyard dedicated to nebbiolo in Victoria’s Alpine Valleys, Pipan Steel, where they now cultivate three clones across 2,000 closely planted vines.
Matthew Large is the owner and winemaker of Praeter. He has extensive experience with nebbiolo in both hemispheres, making nebbiolo here in Australia as well as producing his own Langhe nebbiolo in Barolo. He has worked five vintages as vintage assistant winemaker at Figli Luigi Oddero in La Morra, and, most recently here in Australia, finished up four years as senior winemaker with the Shaw & Smith suite of brands. He started focusing on Praeter full-time at the end of 2024, and now farms four hectares of vines under the label. He recently took out the Winemaker’s Choice trophy at the 2026 Young Gun of Wine Awards.
Nikki Palun grew up making garage wine with her parents in Melbourne after her father converted their backyard into a mini vineyard. She went on to work at De Bortoli Wines in export, building their Asia-Pacific, Middle East and African distribution networks, while studying winemaking and viticulture at Charles Sturt University and gaining her Wine & Spirit Education Trust (WSET) Level 3 Award in Wines. In 2014, Nikki founded Susuro Wines, making wine under two labels – Octtava, focused on classic varieties, and Susuro, specialising in Italian varieties, sourcing fruit from organic and premium vineyards. She oversees every aspect of the business herself, from winemaking and production to label design, sales, marketing and distribution. She also speaks Mandarin, and has served on wine industry boards and committees including Wine Victoria and Australian Grape & Wine.
Andrea Infimo grew up in Naples, coming to Australia as an environmental science graduate in 2013. He began working at Movida Sydney on what was meant to be a sabbatical year, but there he fell in love with wine. After Movida, he worked at Sydney’s iconic 121 BC wine bar, then under Annette Lacey MW for the Lotus Group. A move to Melbourne saw Infimo reconnect with Movida in 2018, where he is the Group Beverage Operations Manager, as well as the Head Sommelier for the original restaurant. Infimo completed his Level 4 Diploma in Wines with the Wine & Spirts Education Trust (WSET) in August 2022. He currently works as a sommelier for Osteria Renata.
Iona Baker is a key account manager for leading Italian wine importer Trembath & Taylor. She holds a Level 4 Diploma in Wines from the Wine & Spirits Education Trust (WSET) and has worked for lengthy stints as sommelier at both St Kilda’s Stokehouse and for the Grossi Restaurant Group.
Caroline Abbott grew up in Spain with American parents and has spent much of her life in and around wine, hospitality, and international travel. She has worked across Australia, Spain, and the US in export, sales, and commercial roles, building markets for premium wine portfolios and the relationships that sustain them. Melbourne has long been part of that story, too – from early days at Bellota Wine Bar and The Spanish Acquisition to her recent return to the city with an Australian husband, a global perspective, and a deep affection for the culture, connection, and sense of place that wine creates. She currently works as a freelance consultant for her own agency, Caravine Consulting.
GET FIRST ACCESS TO THE NEXT WINE ICONS – DELIVERED
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Brooding, mysterious, and decidedly not for everyone – meet aglianico, the dark horse of Italian varieties, and possibly the saviour of Australia’s warmer-climate winegrowers. Inside: the full backstory, plus the top wines to emerge from our blind tasting panel.
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