SC Pannell Sunset 100 Grenache 2023

SC Pannell Sunset 100 Grenache 2023

Stephen’s interest in Grenache stretches back to the mid-nineties. Upon arriving in McLaren Vale, a preference for making medium bodied wine led Stephen to Grenache and the love affair began. Given the region’s warm Mediterranean climate and proximity to the ocean Grenache is ideally suited to McLaren Vale and perfectly at home with our food and lifestyle.

In 2021 the opportunity to purchase a nine-hectare Grenache vineyard planted in 1922 in the heart of Blewitt Springs including two bush vine blocks one facing the morning sun and the other warmed by the setting sun, was too good to pass up. Finally, Stephen had a home for S.C.Pannell Grenache.

Block 6, Little Branch Vineyard, Blewitt Springs, 104-year-old bush vines grown on atypical Blewitt Springs sandy loam with ironstone and quartz at 140m above sea level. It's row orientation is North-South and is exposed to the warmer westerly setting sun. Unirrigated, managed organically, pruned and harvested by hand.

The third year of a La Nina cycle; a rare weather event that delivers wet winters and cool summers, favourable conditions for dry-grown vineyards. The yields were small, concentrating flavours, and long hang times delivered tannin intensity resulting in complex, age-worthy wines. Stephen favours these cooler years, and believes they will be ones to watch.

Sunset block’s 100th vintage began with harvest on the 21st of March. Whole berries were gently shaken from the rachis and sent to a seasoned 5000L French oak fermenter for twice daily pump-overs. Gently pressed on the 1st of April and settled in tank for 19 days before racking off gross lees and transfer to seasoned French oak puncheons for malolactic fermentation and maturation. Racked once and bottled on the 4th of July 2023, unfined and unfiltered.

Last years release saw rave reviews - with 100 points from the Wine Advocate. I was immediately taken when first seeing the wine, and knowing and having tasted many Italian wines with Stephen, it felt like this was a wine that had been in his veins for a long time, the culmination of all those years here and abroad experimenting and falling in love with Italianate structures and shapes. It was reminiscent of Barbaresco in weight and line, with this sinewy nature and al dente tannin composition.

One of the staff members asked me on return from the tasting whether it stacked up for the money, and the response was absolutely - we often see wines in this bracket that don't carry anywhere near the level of complexity or detail on hand here, and Sunrise 99 pushed the upper echelon of what can be achieved in the global perception of qualitative Australian winemaking. This was breaking the glass ceiling of Blewitt Grenache.

Just this week, we were fortunate enough to sit down with a few more of our staff and taste the latest 2023s with Stephen. It seems hyperbolic to go harder than what we saw with the first release of the 2022, but this takes everything contained in the previous release and just adds this layer of extra intensity and vibrancy seen from the cooler, longer vintage.

Sunset 100 is the second wine of this pigeon pair, making its debut this year after the standalone release of Sunrise last year. The Italianate references don't end here - where Sunrise is all sinew and tension, Barbaresco-esque in stature - Sunset is a few km down the road, innately more Barolo like in its flow and shape. That extra exposure to the afternoon sunshine provides a wine of immense depth, one that will be preferred by the wine scribes and punters for it's intensity, richness and fanning texture. It's a powerhouse wine that carries itself with immense grace and elegance, never ever feeling heavy, and almost weightlessness on this peacock level openness to the finish. Such a great exercise in showcasing what role aspect has to play in the overall composition of a wine - and all in all raising the bar again for what continues to be one of Australia's crown jewels of oenological prowess in Blewitt Springs.

Missing in '22, this is the debut pair to the Sunrise, with these centenarian vines catching the afternoon sun. Two blocks, same material, same age, quite different wines, though kindred. While the Sunrise is a little coiled, a little within itself, this is expressive and lifted, yet no less a wine of future promise. Steve Pannell likes a nebbiolo comparison for grenache, and while that often feels akin to Langhe Nebbiolo or Barbaresco in McLaren Vale, here Barolo is a more apt touchstone. Warm terracotta, papery faded flowers, pomegranate, blood orange, cherry, rosehip, star anise, dried orange peel, dried black cherry, sun-drenched wild fennel seeds. So much going on. A truly stellar wine, resting on a foundation of vigorous but cohesive acidity and a classically ensnaring web of complex natural tannins with resounding length of flavour. A wine of place, and one that I had open for four days without it tiring, rather further revealing itself. Such beauty, such intrigue. A wine to sit back and admire; great by any measure. 98+ Points – Marcus Ellis