About
"I am writing to you on the launch of my 2021 Smart Grenache and 2021 Old McDonald Grenache. Setting these wines free is always a moment of great release, and a signal that the current vintage is over. But this year it is not so, and I find myself asking questions: Firstly, will my 43rd vintage ever end? A year of inopportune rain and unseasonal cold culminating in a late harvest, reduced yields and too much time for reflection and contemplation, and amongst the swirl, a second more persistent question: Why do I prefer making Grenache in cooler years?
The current multi-year La Niña weather system was declared in September 2020. A similar pattern occurred from 2010 to 2011. Knowledge that prepared us for the possibility of a long ripening period in vintage 2021. In warmer years the difference between Grenache wines of distinction and confected lolly water can be just 48 hours. No such thing in 2021 with the luxury of time afforded by a cooler harvest and, with the words of Burgundy legend Gerard Potel ringing in my ears “if you think it's ripe you've missed it”, we nailed the harvest date for all our Grenache vineyards.
I've often remarked on the longevity of our 2010 Grenache but in a recent tasting was surprised by the life and vitality of the 2011 Grenache. I was delighted by the “Italianicity of the wine, a reminder of the synergy I see between the red wines of Northern Italy and Grenache.
I grew up in a household that revered all things French and like many people of my generation, I rebelled. I longed for simplicity, provenance and accessibility and found it in Italian wine, food, and culture.
Fiona and I have visited Italy many times. We've worked in Barolo, revelled in the diversity of grape varieties, studied the connection of each variety to place, made lifelong friends and strong connections with kind generous people. I can't help but see the same traits in the people who work with Grenache and the grape itself.
Grenache is the most difficult variety I work with, and that challenge makes it the most rewarding. This year's finish line is in sight and by the time this reaches intended recipients our Adelaide Hills Protero Nebbiolo will have been harvested and vintage 2023 can be drawn to a close. The cooler years may well be more challenging for the mind than the warmer years, but the resulting wines will always rank amongst my favourites." - Stephen Pannell
The Vintage
"Mostly joyous but not without its challenges. Good winter rain led to strong growth with good cover in the mid row and under vine well into summer. Nervous expectation after two low yielding years muted conversations about the potential for a good year right up until harvest. No disease pressure, good canopies and plentiful bunches lead to a long ripening season. Some varieties tested patience and drew out vintage well in to May. The greatest challenge was having enough hours in the day and people to help with harvesting the plentiful and perfectly ripe fruit. What a relief!" - Stephen Pannell
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 life style.
It is unusual and rare to find varietal Grenache, as most of the time it is blended. Stephen proudly states, whenever given the opportunity, that McLaren Vale Grenache ages more gracefully than Shiraz. Grenache is well on its way to becoming McLaren Vale’s most recognised wine and our true wine of place.
2021 Old McDonald Grenache
From a 79-year-old, dry-grown, bush-on-a-wire vineyard I have worked with since 2004 formally owned by Duncan McDonald and now farmed by Matt Hatwell. Typical Blewitt Springs sands at an altitude of 83m above sea level facing Southeast.
Hand-picked on the 25th of February at perfect Baume to ripeness with consistent intensity of tannin and flavour that we have come to expect from this block. Fermented in an open top fermenter with 20% whole cluster, daily pump overs and 15 days on skins before very gentle pressing with no hard pressings used in the final wine. Transferred to a 3900L vat, after settling, for Malolactic fermentation and extended maturation. Racked twice and bottled without fining or filtration on the 13th of December 2021. The final alcohol is 14.5% with a PH of 3.45, total acidity of 5.8 and total sulphur at bottling of 47ppm.
A powerful release that leaves it all on the table.
Winemaking
Variety: Grenache Noir/ Garnacha Tinta / Ganaxa / Cannonau – whatever the name its all the same to us!
Varietal Origin: Sardinia or Spain; an ancient variety with origins that are hotly contested.
Vineyard: Hatwell vineyard, McLaren Vale
Process: Hand harvested on the 25th of February and immediately crushed. Fermented in one stainless steel open-top fermenter with regular pump overs, 20% whole bunch. Left on skins for 15 days before a gentle press. Settled in tank for 20 days before transfer to an old French oak vat for Malolactic fermentation and extended maturation. Racked twice and bottled without fining, filtration, additions, or adjustment on the 13th of December 2021.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Ph: 3.45
TA: 5.8
Total Sulphur: 47 ppm
For the Senses
Flavour Profile: All the Rothko colours all at once and everywhere in your mouth: Ripe red raspberry pushing to black fruits with a bowl of pink watermelon and musk lollies, rose-tinted Turkish delight, dark toffee, brown spice, and shiny black cherry. There’s a push and pull between the dark aromatics and the red fruited palate.
Structure & Texture: Everything left on the table! Generousity, power, grace, perfectly weighted, seductive velvety tannins that have an earthy warmth and are loaded with McLaren Vale sunshine. Width and breadth and length, wow!
Cellaring: Many, many years of ageing potential, try 15+
Serving: Amatriciana in The Eternal City: Recipes and stories from Rome by Maria Pasquale
Review by James Suckling
“A gloriously detailed, focused and concentrated rendition of grenache, this has a punchy and energetically youthful stance. The nose has such fresh and vivid raspberries and boysenberries, together with some red plums, floral bursts and a gently sappy edge. Such pure fruit here. The palate has a smooth outer layer that glazes compact, fine and layered tannins seamlessly. Super-fresh finish with bright acidity. The fruit power here is supercharged.”
99 points
NB: The 2021 S.C.Pannell Old McDonald Grenache was the top ranked red wine in James Suckling’s Australian Wine for 2022.
Review by Erin Larkin, Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate
“This 2021 Grenache is darker and more structural -and more savoury-than the Smart Grenache tasted next to it. The Old McDonald vineyard has sandy soil, “sandy enough to get bogged.” The 20% whole bunches in the ferment contribute spiciness and structure the wine… It offers perfume and pastrami-red fruits and exotic spice. As usual, while the flavor of the wine is something to sink into, the tannins are the outstanding highlight: super fine, flooding the mouth and at no point ever obstructing the flow of fruit across the palate. Magic tannins.”
96 Points
Review by Huon Hooke, The Real Review
"Deep red with a good purple tint and a ripe, rich, black-fruit and spice aromas with a patina of forest-floor and dried bayleaf that leads into a majestically full-bodied palate, loaded with flavour and tannin. Super ripe berries and balsamic herbs. Concentration-plus. Serious grenache indeed. Long-term keeping qualities. Impressive stuff."
96 Points
Review by Ned Goodwin, Halliday
“Steve Pannell’s fervent belief in grenache set the benchmark well before anyone else, infusing the region with giddy inspiration and a belief in what is right for these parts: sturdy, later ripening Mediterranean varieties. It ‘aint Shiraz. Grenache is the future. Older school of the new if that makes sense. A riff of eucalyptus, kirsch, blood plum and ironstone segueing to a ferrous streak of tannin bridging attack to a long, effusive finish.”
93 Points
The Wine Front review by Mike Bennie
“This has quite a bit of sappiness and juicy, berried fruit amongst tart cherry, kirsch and cola characters. It’s fruitier than the exceptional Smart Vineyard 2021 but no slouch, just distinct, which is the point really. An element of jamminess, but a crunch and the swerve and chew of a firm web of graphite-laced tannin. Indeed, tannin is your friend here, a wine with great stretch and firmness from it, despite the sweeter fruit tendencies. Modern grenache in great hands.”
95 Points
2021 Smart Grenache
The fifth release from a 66-year-old, dry-grown, bush-vine vineyard on the edge of the Clarendon township, 230m above sea level facing Southeast, farmed by Bernie and Wayne Smart to whom McLaren Vale owes a debt of gratitude for preserving and persevering with Grenache.
Hand-picked on the 17th of March with a Baume of 13.3. Fermented in an open top fermenter with daily pump overs and 10 days on skins before gently pressing with no hard pressings used. Transferred after settling to a 2800L 9-year-old vat and two old puncheons for malolactic fermentation and extended maturation. Racked twice and bottled, without fining or adjustment on the 14th of March 2022. The final alcohol is 13.5% with a PH of 3.3, total acidity of 6.9 and total sulphur at bottling of 50ppm.
A pretty release, exquisitely balanced.
The Smart vineyard is owned by Bernie Smart and his son Wayne. It is the highest Grenache vineyard in McLaren Vale with soils up to 750 million years old. Unirrigated bush vines, managed by hand; we owe Bernie and Wayne a debt of gratitude for preserving this precious place.
Winemaking
Variety: Grenache Noir/ Garnacha Tinta / Ganaxa / Cannonau – whatever the name its all the same to us!
Varietal Origin: Sardinia or Spain; an ancient variety with origins that are hotly contested.
Vineyard: Smart Vineyard, Clarendon
Process: Hand harvested on the 17th of March and immediately crushed. Fermented in one stainless steel open top fermenter with regular pump overs. Left on skins for 10 days before a gentle press. Settled in tank for 14 days before transfer to an old French oak vat and two puncheons for Malolactic fermentation and extended maturation. Racked twice and bottled without fining, additions, or adjustment on the 14th of March 2022.
Alcohol: 13.5%
Ph: 3.3
TA: 6.9
Total Sulphur: 50 ppm
For the Senses
Flavour Profile: Aromas of frankincense, incense, raspberry leaf tea and orange peel transported some of us to our youth and time spent sitting or kneeling in pews. Pomegranate, persimmon, sage and white pepper, an alpine stream and fresh flowers took others to time spent in mountain air. Aromas and flavours that have the power to transpose time and place.
Structure & Texture: The tannins are coiled and restrained by a corset of acid that releases on the back palate to reveal a bustle of fruit. The texture is polite and restrained but you can’t help but feel an edginess. Its light on its feet, exquisitely balanced, salivatingly moreish and definitively medium bodied. In the words of Stephen Pannell “Geez that’s pretty”.
Cellaring: Many, many years of ageing potential, try 20+.
Serving: Stracotto – Slow cooked Jewish Beef Stew in The Eternal City: Recipes and stories from Rome by Maria Pasquale
The Wine Front review by Mike Bennie
“From a near to 70-year-old vineyard. Of course, Steve Pannell knows his grenache well, and has been at the vanguard for the variety becoming a modern news headline.
Very lithe and fine, pure and frisky, sheathed in silty tannin, juicy in a way and with weight set to medium or just under. Succulent red cherry, brick-ish dusty elements in woody spices and twiggy, dried herbs, a faint fennel note, salted liquorice faintly there. Fragrant too, oh so very much. Savoury scents through with just ripe cherry underlying. That tension is so appealing and refreshing. Compelling drinking.”
96 Points
Review by Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate
“The 2021 Smart Grenache is very fine and bright with punctuating, pop-rocky acid through the fruit. This is incredibly bright and exciting—the lingering spool of tannins and acid merge through the finish. There is pomegranate and raspberry pip, red licorice, fennel flower and a smattering of saffron. This is a fantastic, elongated wine that will age gracefully.”
96 Points
Review by Huon Hooke for the Real Review
“Deep, bright red-purple colour, aromas of peppermint, raspberry and red cherry, pepper and peat-smoke as well, the palate firm and sinewy, tensioned and the finish firmed up by bright acidity and cleansing tanins. A more nervy style of grenache.”
94/100
2021 Basso Garnacha
The idea for a low sulphur, unfiltered Grenache had been bubbling away for a few years and in 2017 access to the right fruit from an old dry-grown vineyard, sparked the Basso project to life. From the Latin Bassus, meaning low, refers to the minimal preservative used in the winemaking enabling this precious variety to speak clearly of where it is grown.
Lighter, warm-climate red wines based on Grenache particularly from McLaren Vale have a well-deserved place on the tables of diners. Youthful and flavoursome wines that match where and how we live and the food we love to cook and eat.
Winemaking
Variety: 100% Grenache Noir / Garnacha Tinta / Ganaxa / Cannonau – whatever the name it’s all the same to us!
Varietal Origin: Sardinia or Spain; an ancient variety with origins that are hotly contested. Vineyard: McMurtrie Road, McLaren Vale
Process: Picked on the 27th of February with a Baume of 13.3. Fermented in open top fermenters with gentle pump overs and 9 days on skins before gentle pressing. Transferred after settling to large old French oak vats for malolactic fermentation and extended maturation. Racked twice and bottled, without fining or adjustment on the 16th of December 2021.
Alcohol: 14%
Ph: 3.56
TA: 5.1
Total Sulphur: 34 ppm
For the Senses
Flavour Profile: The fifth release and our most beguiling to date. Perfumed, poised and pretty with violets, raspberry, rhubarb, pink musk sticks, lilac, exotic timber and brick dust reminiscent of sitting on a red brick fence in summer surrounded by a lush garden slurping on a raspberry Sunny Boy waiting on no one nor anything in particular.
Structure & Texture: Coiled and compact on opening, waiting to pounce before stretching its limbs and delivering a balance between acid, tannin and abundant fruit after a touch of air. A powerful reminder of why we love Grenache.
Cellaring: Potential for a surprise in the cellar but delicious now.
Serving: A simple dish of Pomodori col Riso from Maria Pasquale’s excellent book: The Eternal City, recipes and stories from Rome.
Winefront Review by Mike Bennie
Posted on 11 June 2023
"A very good year for Basso. 50 year old vines.
Bright cherry, musk, lots of iron and ferrous character, exotic spice and mint. Medium-bodied, juicy fruit, but savoury, with plenty of tannin and extract, stony feel, a lot of bounce and perfume. Finish is ferrous and crisp, and pretty long. Kind of rugged, though it’s a joyous expression of Grenache. Fun times."
94 Points
(Image: SC Pannell / Shaun Maher - Liquid Library)