2023 Paracombe Pinot Blanc, Adelaide Hills

Paracombe Pinot Blanc is a quietly brilliant Adelaide Hills white that shows just how well this variety suits cool climate Australia when it is grown and handled with care. The vineyards sit high in the northern Adelaide Hills, where altitude, cool nights and long growing seasons allow Pinot Blanc to ripen slowly while holding onto natural acidity. Ancient soils and constant airflow give clarity, freshness and a subtle mineral edge that defines the wine’s style.

Paracombe is very much a family story. Founded in the early 1980s by the Collett family, the estate has always focused on varieties that thrive in the Hills rather than chasing fashion. Pinot Blanc has become a calling card here, made with restraint and confidence, and offering something a little different for those who love texture and detail over loud aromatics.

In the glass, the wine is elegant and composed. Nashi pear, apple and white peach sit at the core, joined by gentle citrus notes and a soft floral lift. With time, more savoury nuances appear. Almond meal, subtle spice and a faint chalky character add depth. The palate is where it really shines. There is a lovely creamy flow through the mid palate balanced by bright, well judged acidity. It finishes dry, clean and quietly persistent, with fruit and texture lingering rather than sharpness.

This is a superb food wine. It works beautifully with roast chicken, pork, seafood, creamy vegetable dishes or anything where texture matters more than overt flavour. It is drinking very well now, but it will also reward a few years in the cellar as it gains more nutty, savoury complexity. Paracombe Pinot Blanc is understated, confident and deeply satisfying, a great example of why the Adelaide Hills continues to surprise.