“The ’21s charmed with upfront fruit, but the ’22s have something extra, less obvious—strange considering the similarity between the seasons. Just goes to show the importance of tannin ripeness, a concept we are only just starting to come to grips with in Australian winemaking. The longer hang times made the difference.”
Stephen Pannell
The honours Australia sees fit to bestow upon its greatest winemakers are many and varied, and Stephen Pannell had enjoyed them all before he launched Koomilya. The two-time Jimmy Watson winner and former Winemaker of the Year has been decorated for his expressions of traditional varieties and a panoply of alternative grapes, in all kinds of styles.
Koomilya wasn’t an itch to scratch or loose end to tie up; no, Steve found a whole new mountain to climb. There was this vineyard where a man of Steve’s vision sensed unscaled, undreamed of heights for a wine that was wholly, unmistakably of a place—an Australian place—with all the resonance and magnetic class of the world’s best wines. A wine that brought the glorious elements of this country’s past into the present.
That vineyard is now called Koomilya, and it’s an enchanting patch of McLaren Vale. Its wines have held us in their thrall since the first releases and—almost improbably—Steve is realising his monumentally ambitious dream. It’s not just the quality of these wines that has been a revelation; it’s the way they have moved people, just as Koomilya moved Steve.
As always, picking between blocks is splitting hairs. They are different, that is the whole point. This pre-release offer includes the 2022 JC Block, which just took out Shiraz of the Year at the 2026 Halliday Wine Companion, alongside the equally spellbinding DC and GT Block Shiraz. The wines will be ready for dispatch in mid-September. We’re as proud as we are excited to share these profound, celebratory artefacts of Australian wine culture with you.
The Wines
2022 Vintage
2022 was a La Niña year. The winter and spring of the 2022 season were wet and cold, with a mild summer and autumn following. The season afforded long hang times and, therefore, greater tannin development. These wines have strength, intensity, and glorious grape tannins, which wind the palate together, almost like a double helix. The complex structure pulls you straight through. They illustrate what I’m hoping modern McLaren Vale wine will be, which harks back to a tradition of what it looked like in the 1960s, without all the artifice of winemaking. Above all, these wines look and taste Koomilya. – Stephen Pannell
2022 Koomilya GT Block Shiraz RRP $130
“Flighty, pretty and magical.” Stephen Pannell
A single-block Shiraz from 33-year-old vines grafted onto Gewürztraminer planted in 1974. Grown on slaty siltstone with laminated ironstone rubble at an altitude of 116m, facing south. This is the most isolated of the three blocks.
The grapes were harvested by hand on 16th March. Whole berries were gently separated from the rachis and sent to an old oak fermenter. Gently pressed after spontaneous fermentation and 14 days on skin. Settled in tank for 11 days before transfer to an 11-year-old French oak vat for malolactic fermentation and six months’ maturation. Racked once and sent back to vat for extended maturation. Bottled without fining or additions on 27th September 2023. Alcohol 14%; pH 3.55; TA 5.9g/L; total sulphur 54ppm.
The Koomilya shiraz trio tends to follow a similar pattern, showing distinctly different characters from three blocks in Upper Tintara so near to each other. The GT Block is usually the most fragrant, lithe and lifted and, while that is true, it is also true that this seems to have gone up in intensity and depth. The distinctive kelp, nori, dried violet and black tea notes are there, but there seems a deeper, more thrumming heartbeat this vintage, a core of dark minerals and spice. There’s also tapenade, pomegranate molasses, a hint of musk, even. Tannins are expertly extracted and this is made for the long haul. Outstanding. 97 points. Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion Oct 2025
Blackcurrant, boysenberry, a musky pink perfume, nori, black olive and a little pepper and spice. It’s medium-bodied, succulent in juicy cherry and dark fruit, a little savoury too, supple in fine powdery tannin, and bright and long to close. Such truly excellent and interesting expression of Shiraz. 95 points. Gary Walsh, The Winefront Oct 2025
2022 Koomilya JC Block Shiraz RRP $150
“The most fruit-driven and the hardest to describe.” Stephen Pannell
A single-block Shiraz from 50-year-old vines grown on slaty siltstone flecked with abundant ironstone rubble at an altitude of 120m, facing southwest and nestled in grey box scrub.
The grapes were harvested by hand on 16th March. Whole berries were gently separated from the rachis and sent to a small stainless-steel fermenter. Gently pressed after spontaneous fermentation and 15 days on skin. Settled in tank for 36 days before transfer to a 4-year-old French oak vat for malolactic fermentation and six months’ maturation. Racked once and sent back to vat for extended maturation. Bottled without fining or additions on 27th September 2023. Alcohol 14%; pH 3.47; TA 6.3g/L; total sulphur 58ppm.
Shiraz of the Year for the 2026 Companion. There are three single-block iterations of Koomilya shiraz: GT, DC and JC. All are superb, but it is the JC that is cementing its reputation as one of Australia’s greatest wines. The survey may be relatively short, but I’m convinced. The ’21 was breathtaking, and this is its equal, or thereabouts. The JC has a distinct shape, a harmony, an engulfing perfume, a blend of flavour depth with spice and dusky florals, and an effortlessness. Then the fragrance in the mouth billows up, envelops, stops you in your tracks. It’s suffused with place, the bush-fringed site, with a sense of fallen gums subsumed into the soil, intertwining with the ripe but not juicy deep red fruits, along with a rusty iron note, salumi and panforte. As said, one of Australia’s great wines. 99 points. Panel Decision, Halliday Wine Companion Aug 2025
Dense, saturated purple colour. Stains the glass. Earthy, broken rock, ironstone-like aromas. Ripe peppery nuances as well. This wine is concentrated, powerful and the tannins mouth-coating, making a seriously deep impression. Juicy sweet fruit at the core, and very detailed flavours. This is a massive wine, which demands patience and should be cellared for maximum enjoyment. The payoff will be great. 98 points. Huon Hooke, The Real Review Oct 2025
2022 Koomilya DC Block Shiraz RRP $130
“The baritone of the three, sits deeper on the palate and buzzes with energy.” Stephen Pannell
A single-block Shiraz from 50-year-old vines grown on slaty siltstone flecked with ironstone rubble at an altitude of 108m, facing southeast and closest to the restored creek line.
The grapes were harvested by hand on 14th March. Whole berries were gently separated from the rachis and sent to an old oak fermenter. Gently pressed after spontaneous fermentation and 11 days on skin. Settled in tank for 23 days before transfer to a 10-year-old French oak vat for malolactic fermentation and six months’ maturation. Racked once and sent back to vat for extended maturation. Bottled without fining or additions on 27th September 2023. Alcohol: 14%; pH 3.58; TA 5.9g/L; total sulphur 45ppm.
It’s so nice to see these Block wines consistently show true to site, while also naturally fluctuating with the vintage. The DC is always the most traditional of feel – of intensity and fruit flavour – of the triad of wines, but it’s as effortless, as delightfully free of artefact as the other wines. Deep of fruit, brooding, but never sweet or rich with it. Just a wine of thrumming presence with a bloody ferrousness, feeling of those ironstone-laced soils, old vines and that distinctive Upper Tintara bush block. There’s a character in all the wines that feels of that place, of the earth and the bush in the warmth of summer, but not of eucalypt, of mintiness, just of the scent of that serene place. An excellent wine. 96 points. Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion Aug 2025
Dense, concentrated, saturated purple colour, very dark. There are savoury smoky/nutty, toasty and roasted meat aromas of really serious shiraz. The wine is super-concentrated, powerful, mouth-filling and also detailed: it has great complexity of flavour—especially impressive in such a young wine. The detailed complexity in this wine is absolutely captivating. A marvellous shiraz which will drink beautifully for a very very long. 97 points. Huon Hooke, The Real Review Oct 2025
