SAWAC, Mclaren Vale - Wednesday 7th May 2025

Presented by: 

TOM GRANT 

tom@pannell.com.au

GENERAL MANAGER 

+61 (0) 423 555750 

S C Pannell Fifi Fiano - $35 
S.C.PANNELL FIFI FIANO 2024

Named for Fiona Pannell, known to her friends as Fi Fi and the driving force behind Pannell Enoteca. In Stephen's words, "a wine that gives praise and thanks to the siren song that makes my life complete."

A tropical fruit punch laced with refreshing citrus and exotic herbs. Guava and green papaya followed by white currant, quince, and nectarine. Elderflower plays with Kaffir lime, lanolin and lemongrass roll into view, and lime delivers the knockout blow. Crisp refreshment, crunchy and satisfying. The drive of acidity marries with the phenolics on the finish, giving length and extended pleasure.

S.C. Pannell Basso Garnacha - $35
 S.C.PANNELL BASSO GARNACHA 2022

Medium bodied, warm-climate red wines based on Grenache particularly from McLaren Vale have a well-deserved place on the tables of diners. They offer welcoming aromas and flavours, with a texture often described as European but proudly Australian. They match where and how we live and the food we love to cook and eat.
 
Dark plum, cocoa, clove and warm spice with kelp, rhubarb, boysenberry, red cherry preserve, and Jamon jumping around the glass and commanding attention. A sanguine, terracotta and petrichor frame supports a finish loaded with pomegranate and signature raspberry. Gateway Grenache ready for willing explorers. There is volume and richness that speaks of luxury. The tannins crunch like apple skin inside a candy shell and coat the roof of the palate. Flavour derived from fruit but also seeds and stems makes the finish luscious and layered.

SCP 'Dead End' Tempranillo 2022 - $32.00 RRP
S.C.PANNELL 'Dead End' Tempranillo

Iberian varietals are ideally suited to the McLaren Vale climate and this wine continues to be a perfect example of what's possible.
A quiet entry, no fanfare, subtle, silent and silky but then, a vibration of texture that builds, layers and scaffolds leaving no corner of the palate untouched. A French horn blast of power signals to the valleys of the back palate that flavour is on the way. A delicious melding of flavour and texture with a lingering finish. Classic!

S.C.Pannell ‘The Vale’ Shiraz Grenache – $50
S.C.PANNELL THE VALE 2021
 
The truly wondrous thing about great wine is it speaks of where it comes from. All true wine has a local accent – something distinct and unmistakable that helps to place it in an instant. This old vine Shiraz Grenache is our wine of place, and it couldn’t come from anywhere else but ‘The Vale’. The blend is something altogether more than the sum of its parts, it is McLaren Vale in essence, taste and character.
 
Wherever we are in the world this wine tastes and like our home beside the sea. Aromas of sea air, iodine, earth, dark fruits and wood spice. Blackberry, ripe mulberry and blueberry are entwined with musk lollies, fine tobacco leaf and cedar with subtle master stock, soy and umami lending gravitas to the fruit and spice.
The palate is a force of dark fruited pleasure extended by the Grenache to a long, fine finish. The Shiraz lends weight and plushness to the palate with freshness and drive from the Grenache. The tannins are tricky to describe and seem to change shape from gravel to dusty on the finish which is long and shaped like the classic fan. A textural pleasure from start to finish.
 
2022 S.C.Pannell Little Branch Grenache – $85
S.C.PANNELL LITTLE BRANCH GRENACHE 2022
 
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.
 
Spice from the start: cinnamon, clove, nutmeg, cassia then spun sugar, toffee apple and red fruits, now rose oil, leaf litter, cedar and red brick; aromas that sway and swirl. Bright red fruits dominate the palate before a zephyr of spice, and a finish laced with musk.
Suave, sophisticated and intellectual, turning it on before stealing your wallet, and yet, a yearning for more. Stealthy tannin hidden by complex flavours. The texture has a pink hue and slips past the front palate with barely a ripple before building quickly to the back and travelling on. Flavours and textures that stay with you long past the first sip.