2022 Protero Nebbiolo, Adelaide Hills

It does both speeds of lightweight and serious with fine tannin profile. Lots of perfume, too, and a dark cherry, brambly herbal focus for descriptors. In all that, it nails the brief of proper nebbiolo, with succulence to texture, great volume of perfume, restraint in fruit character and yet finesse. Elegance personified. And beautiful drinking.

95 points Special Value Mike Bennie winecompanion.com.au

Protero is the personal Italian varietal project of Stephen Pannell, one of Australia’s most respected winemakers and former chief winemaker at Hardy’s Tintara. Through S.C. Pannell he has championed Mediterranean grapes in McLaren Vale and beyond, and Protero allows him to explore those varieties in a slightly different, more focused frame. With Nebbiolo planted in the cool elevations of the Adelaide Hills, Pannell is chasing perfume, structure and finesse rather than weight, drawing inspiration from Piedmont while staying true to South Australian light and fruit clarity.

The vineyard sits in a cooler Hills pocket where long ripening preserves acidity and aromatic lift. Stephen Pannell handles the fruit with restraint, managing extraction carefully to avoid aggressive tannin while still building the classic Nebbiolo frame. Maturation is about refinement, not oak flavour, allowing site and variety to lead.

Pale garnet in colour, the aromas are lifted and expressive, opening with rose petal, sour cherry and red plum layered with dried herbs and subtle spice. The palate is medium bodied and finely structured, with bright red fruit wrapped in firm yet polished tannins and lively acidity. Flavours of cherry, blood orange and savoury earth stretch through a dry, gently gripping finish.

It pairs beautifully with pasta, mushroom dishes, slow cooked meats and aged cheeses. Drinking impressively now with air, it will cellar confidently for ten to twelve years, developing earthy, truffle like nuance.

This is Adelaide Hills Nebbiolo shaped by Stephen Pannell’s Italian sensibility, perfumed, structured and built for the table.