2019 S.C. Pannell Dead End Tempranillo

S.C. Pannell

Australia / Adelaide Hills / S.C. Pannell

We’re fortunate enough to be sourcing our Tempranillo from some of the oldest plantings in McLaren Vale, up to twenty years of age. The quality of these grapes in our warming region has given us the faith to continue pursuing this straight varietal and to plant more at our Amery Road vineyard. This wine is 100% Tempranillo from vineyards in Blewitt Springs and McLaren Vale. Both parcels were picked in early March. The fruit was crushed and kept separate. It spent 8 to 10 days on skins, followed by gentle pressing and going to small oak in mid-April to complete malolactic fermentation. The Blewitt springs parcel was matured in French oak puncheon and the McLaren Vale parcel in a 2800-litre vat. The wine was blended in January 2020 and bottled in late February.
This is signature Tempranillo from the get-go! Red fruits, leaf litter, cola, and dark spice: allspice and cardamon. The palate melds into the aromas then throws black cherry, sarsaparilla, and dark chocolate into the mix. The wine is medium-bodied and offers slurpy deliciousness. An immediate fruit entry of cherry and earth leads to tannins that ride the fruit wave giving length and line to the finish. The oak has a gentle part to play and stands shoulder to shoulder with the fruit. - Stephen Pannell

December, 2020

Ned Goodwin MW

Halliday Wine Companion

90 points.

Vinified in open-top fermenters for 14 days. Pressed and sent to large French demi-muids (2800 L) and a few puncheons for mlf and a brief maturation. Richly flavoured, pulpy and joyous. A bind of firm, gritty tannins – charcoal, bitter chocolate and coffee grind – weld a slew of dark-cherry and root-spice aromas into a ripe, round and energetic palate. All in the here and now. Delicious drinking!

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About S.C. Pannell

Stephen Pannell is one of the most liked and respected winemakers in the business, loved also by a wine-drinking public looking for refreshing, aromatic white wines and reds that are approachable and moreish - in essence, wines that are serious while remaining irresistible to drink. S.C. Pannell has been part of the CellarHand family since the label's inception in the early 2000s, since when Steve has won just about every accolade going, including a second Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy and the title of Gourmet Traveller Winemaker of the Year.
In the early 2010sSteve acquired a vineyard, winery and cellar door in the heart of McLaren Vale, from where S.C. Pannell continues its quest for great “wines that are grown, not made” – wines that are delicious, that taste of where they're from and that are a natural partner for the food and lifestyle of their home.
Around the same time, he bought another McLaren Vale vineyard he’d adored for decades – a site he christened Koomilya. On this mythical piece of dirt he grows the kind of evocative, long-living, true-to-terroir wines that are redefining Australian wine. And in late 2019, he bought another vineyard - Protero, in the Adelaide Hills - where he is exploring his love of Nebbiolo and other great grapes of northern Italy.
Pannell Enoteca encompasses this bold. generous-spirited vision of precise, compelling and characterful wines and the culture around them.

About

Stephen Pannell has twice won Australia’s most prestigious wine award, the Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy – most recently in 2014 for his 2013 Adelaide Hills Syrah – and his reputation is further hinted at by his being named one of the 50 most influential contributors to the world of wine by Decanter Magazine.
He earned his stripes working with some Australia’s iconic wineries including Wirra Wirra, Hardy’s Tintara and BRL Hardy, where he was Chief Red Winemaker from 1999 to 2003. He has worked numerous overseas vintages at such places as Domaine des Comtes Lafon in Burgundy, Chateau Mouton Rothschild in Bordeaux and G.D. Vajra in Barolo.
In 2014, Steve won his second Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy and further cemented his relationship with the great grapegrowing region that is South Australia by setting up a cellar door in the heart of McLaren Vale. His local legend status has been confirmed again and again, winning the Bushing Trophy for best red wine of show in McLaren Vale no less than four times: 2011, 2015, 2016 and 2018.