The nose of this 2016 Nebbiolo is taking a little getting used to: creaming soda, vanilla cake and white chocolate overlay the graphite, resin and tar. It does strike a strange sort of balance, I'm just getting the hang of it. In the mouth, the oak becomes a prominent feature of the wine, shining through the fruit and coloring the flavor through the finish. There is something about the fruit that very assuredly says that the balance will swing given time, and the 2010 tasted beside it is testament to this assumption. The oak treatment is decidedly Australian—in that it is obvious—amplified by the anise/aniseed characters through the finish. There's a charm and purity on the mid-palate here that is most alluring. The alcohol, too, is in balance at 13.5%.

Stylistically, this 2010 Nebbiolo is quite different to the 2016 tasted beside it. This is firmer, with higher alcohol and bigger muscles generally. It's aging really well, slowly and gracefully and to its own tune. It has a long time left in the tank. Don't drink this expecting anything remotely Italianate, but so too, this bucks the Australian mold.

Pale ruby with touch of brick to the color, the 2007 Nebbiolo presents more red fruits and cherry compote aromatics alongside some anise, Indian spices, a little tar and earthy notes. Very big and full-bodied (15.3%) and shaped with lovely fine-grained tannins, it has a great core of rich, ripe fruit and a long finish, with that anise coming through. Drink it now to 2022+. Made by Chris Ringland and Melbourne-based wine communicator Nick Stock, this Nebbiolo comes from the southern end of Adelaide hills. Four clones of perhaps the oldest Nebbiolo vines in Australia (20 years+) are co-fermented to produce this very impressive expression of this noble variety. Only 100 cases are produced. No known USA importer.

Pale ruby-brick in color the 2006 Nebbiolo opens to lovely licorice, tar, tea, coffee and red cherry notes with a whiff of potpourri. Following this great perfume (the bottle I tasted was double decanted), the full-bodied palate is rich with tons of savory and spicy flavor layers, medium levels of chewy, expressive tannins and a vibrant line of acid. It finishes very long. Drink now to 2022+. Made by Chris Ringland and Melbourne-based wine communicator Nick Stock, this Nebbiolo comes from the southern end of Adelaide hills. Four clones of perhaps the oldest Nebbiolo vines in Australia (20 years+) are co-fermented to produce this very impressive expression of this noble variety. Only 100 cases are produced. No known USA importer.

Solita is Chris Ringland’s Nebbiolo project. There are a total of 60 cases of the 2005 Nebbiolo which was fermented and matured in one new Radoux demi-muid. Dark ruby colored, it displays a classic Nebbiolo perfume of rose petal, tar, and black cherry. On the palate it is structured, ripe, and balanced with a sense of elegance. This lengthy effort is likely to evolve gracefully for 8-10 years at which time my score is likely to appear conservative. Needless to say, Australian Nebbiolos have virtually no track record. Importer: Dan Philips, The Grateful Palate, Oxnard, CA; tel. (805) 278-9095