Stephen Pannell is a future maker, still ahead of the curve after all these years. For many winemakers, winning the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy might be the pinnacle of their career. When Steve won his first Jimmy Watson in 1996, he wasn’t even getting started. Steve could almost be the poster child of Max Allen’s 2010 book, The Future Makers, in which Pannell speaks about growing climate-appropriate grape varieties, such as Aglianico, which has made a happy home on Olivers Road, McLaren Vale. “I’ve been really surprised at how people have jumped at the opportunity to drink something with real dryness and tannin and grip,” Pannell told Max at the time. “I reckon it’s part of a mini-shift in the tastes of Australian wine drinkers towards elegance and restraint.”
Fast forward 15 years, and Steve’s words look uncannily prescient. But also, look at what the guy has accomplished in the intervening years. He won a second Jimmy for a distinctly cool-climate style of Syrah. He bought a long-cherished vineyard and called it Koomilya. He spoke nostalgically about a uniquely Australian wine of place—and then produced wines from the site that were crowned as the nation’s best examples of its champion grape. He bought another vineyard called Protero and challenged Piedmont with iterations—not imitations—of cru Nebbiolo. And has proudly shared the podium with others in insisting, and proving, that Grenache from McLaren Vale’s sandy soils could go toe to toe with Barolo and Burgundy with wines of singularity, ethereality, substance and surprise.
They are collectible in the extreme, but magnificent to drink today.
Erin Larkin
Somewhere over that stretch—precisely 10 years ago, in fact—Steve was named Winemaker of the Year by Gourmet Traveller WINE. “He really understands the vineyard, the winery, the market, the zeitgeist, and wine quality,” wrote panel judge Huon Hooke at the time. “His wines result from this, so little wonder at his success.”
Pannell’s gift isn’t for understanding the zeitgeist. It’s for understanding wine-growing and the qualities that move people. He anticipates and creates the zeitgeist. He’s still outpacing the curve. He sees no ceiling to Australia’s potential, and his best wines are probably still ahead of him. How’s that for a thought?
In front of us, meanwhile, are three phenomenal single-site Grenaches from 2023. What an honour to taste, drink and share them.
2023 Vintage
As with the year that preceded it, 2023 was a La Niña year. The season was challenging from the start, and the harvest was one of the latest on record with small yields. It was characterised by long hang times and, therefore, great tannin development.
2023 S.C. Pannell ‘Little Branch’ Grenache RRP $85
The 2023 Little Branch Grenache is floral and ultra fine—the tannins sit through the middle and the back of the fruit and drag out through the fine finish. The fruit leads with Boscobel rose, green tea, petrichor and wet asphalt (although they may in fact draw from the same thing, they feel necessary to outline individually). I tasted this 2023 alongside the 2022, and the two have clear identities and are different, yet they are cut from the same cloth. The 2022 is silkier and more supple, with great depth and complexity; the 2023 is lacier, more diaphanous and very perfumed, and both are very long. The vineyard DNA is clear, while the vintage conditions have extracted different characters. They are both excellent wines. They are collectible in the extreme, but magnificent to drink today. 97 Points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate Sep 2025
The second release from the Pannell-owned site in Blewitt Springs, planted to Maslin Sands peppered with ironstone. Fermented in steel with 14% whole bunches; raised in an old 2800L French oak vat. Steve Pannell loves grenache, of course. Also, nebbiolo. The kinship of those varieties in the current zeitgeist is hard to deny. Here it is writ large. Definitively grenache though, with a flex of fruit succulence through the middle (seemingly a feature of this site, based on the early evidence). Such transparency allied with depth, the tannins expansive, authoritative, sandy, refined, natural. Pressed rose, dried cranberry, sour cherry, umeboshi, warm terracotta, mace, freshly ground cinnamon, a hint of musk, the explosive perfume on the palate utterly compelling, the finish relentless. Stunning. 97 points. Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion Jul 2025
Raspberry, with just a couple of frogs in the mix lending a welcoming touch of sweetness, lavish spice and perfume gives it something of an exotic character. It’s bright, tannin is lightly dusty offering a pumice stone grip, there’s some blood orange and cranberry freshness, almond, subtle dried herb and some earthiness, with a juicy but fine finish of excellent length and precision. Top shelf. It’s 95+ or 96, though I reckon I’ll go with the latter because of its perfume and lacy charm. 96 points. Gary Walsh, The Winefront Sep 2025
2023 S.C. Pannell ‘Smart Vineyard’ Grenache RRP $85
The 2023 Smart Grenache was significantly lower in yield (less than half) than the normal. The color in the glass, when poured side by side with the 2022, is far darker. The seasons were very different, and the 2023 here smells as if it’s been turbocharged. It is supple, svelte, concentrated and almost plush. The palate shows the same. This is incredibly silky and seamless, with notes of sweet pouch tobacco, pomegranate molasses, raspberry/rhubarb and paprika dolce tannins. The texture here is like Dutch cocoa—super fine and gritty without being gravelly or blunt. This is super. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 97 points. Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate Sep 2025
From 68-year-old vines in Clarendon, with the wine dedicated to the man who planted and farmed them, the much-loved and missed Bernard Smart. The Smart wine is always elegant, and that follows here, though it has plenty of stuffing considering it was a very cool season. Perhaps I overuse the word savoury, but here we are again. It’s true across the impeccable single-site trio. This needs air, which sees an unfurling of exotic spices, rosewater, musk and dried orange peel notes, more moody than heady, the fruit flavour red but also tartly black fruited, with some sour black cherry notes, along with black tea and bergamot, even a scent of star anise. The tannins incisive, resolute but not demanding; the wine, another triumph. 97 points. Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion Jul 2025
Vibrant and perfumed, with aromas of wild blackberries, dark cherries, dried strawberries, cassia bark and citrus peel. The palate is medium-bodied with fine tannins and a generous texture. Flavors of boysenberries, rose petals, brambleberries and spices in the finish. Refined, pure and polished, coming from dry-grown, 68-year-old bush vines. Drink or hold. Screw cap. 96 points. Ryan Montgomery, jamessuckling.com Mar 2025
2023 S.C. Pannell ‘Old McDonald’ Grenache RRP $85
“I’ve made this wine, by itself, since 2004. It was hard to say goodbye. It has not been easy,” says Steve Pannell. The final vintage of the Old McDonald Grenache is the 2024, so this is the second-to-last release we will see from this vineyard. Its fans will mourn its passing but will find much comfort in the arms of Little Branch. Here, the 2023 Old McDonald Grenache is lighter framed and more delicate than the powerhouse 2022 tasted alongside. 2022 was such a magnificent season, and here is my fervent advice to anyone who would like to hear it: the 2022 is a vintage to cellar, while the fragrant, lighter 2023s will bring you all the pleasure in the short to medium term. The diaphanous quality of this 2023 is one of its key attributes (alongside more enhanced freshness/perceived acidity, elevated spice top notes and levity of fruit), but those seeking plushness will be looking only at the 2022. Choose your player. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 95 points. Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate Sep 2025
From 81-year-old vines planted in deep Maslin Sands. Fermented with 12% whole bunches over two weeks, then settled in tank for a month; élevage in a 4500L old French oak vat. This is spicy, lifted, with the depth that this site always displays, the layering of fruit, spice and mineral inflection all visible, but the old-vine intensity viewed through a cooler lens. Red fruited, with berries, cherries and pomegranate, fresh red florals, musk and blood orange, the tannins so impeccably fine and graceful, yet no less purposeful and savoury. The fruit clings to the tannins – like flesh to a cherry pit – without spilling out. It’s a beautifully poised iteration of this cuvée, and just such a delight. This young and energetic 2022 Grenache Old McDonald offers an intense core of slate and blackberry with touches of charcuterie and mixed spices providing a strong Rhône feel. It has great tannins with rusty/rocky flavours. The fruit is still tightly bound, but it has impressive power, integrity and length to seriously deliver over the coming years. 97 points. Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion Jul 2025
Perfumed aromas of dried strawberries, dark cherries, cinnamon bark, blueberry bush, violets and spices. The seamless palate has a creamy texture, finely tuned tannins and bright acidity in complete harmony with a long, mouthwatering finish. From 81-year-old vines that give depth and tension to this nervy, refined grenache. Almost the purest, most refined release from Pannell’s single-vineyard range this year. Excellent. Drink or hold. 97 points. Ryan Montgomery, jamessuckling.com Mar 2025
