SC PANNELL KOOMILYA DC BLOCK SHIRAZ 2019

Style: Bold & Powerful

Winegrower is a somewhat clumsy word. But its message could not be more succinct. Steve Pannell is a winegrower: vineyard first, with winemaking subservient, quiet, all to express place, unobstructed. The Koomilya Vineyard, in Upper Tintara, is named after a ship¿s bell that Steve found while diving off Busselton jetty as a teenager. Before it was lost to the blue, the bell¿s sound was pealed on a |lugger¿ that transported hardwood from Western Australia to South Australia, its salvage providing a neat link between Steve¿s upbringing and settling into his long stride in McLaren Vale as one of this country¿s finest winemakers. The single block shiraz triad is only spun out in prime years, and they are some of the most exciting wines made in this country, rendered with the deftest of touches, soulful and deeply complex. They are crafted to evoke the Vale reds of old, but above all they are unmistakeably Koomilya. WINE COMPANION

A very unique site tucked away between thatches of native forest and fringed by other old vine properties. The DC Block vines are 47 years old. There's 20% new oak employed here. A formidable and important project from Steve Pannell. The 2019 shiraz of McLaren Vale have a bit more dry reddiness as a thing, and there's some of that here, but the tannin and potency surpasses that. It's highly perfumed, so rich and ripe, inky plummy fruit characters, brined black olive and a strong overlay of cedar, mahogany and clove. The palate is similarly generous and rich, plush and impenetrable, tightens on train tracks of cedary, firm and long ribbons of tannin and overall it feels succulent despite the heft and concentration. Formidable wine here, a quibble on how oak interplays in dryness with dryer spectrum fruit characters, but there's a hugely impressive wine in the glass regardless. MIKE BENNIE, winefront.com

Region : McLaren Vale, SOUTH AUSTRALIA

Variety: Shiraz

ABV: 14.5%

Liquor Act 2007. It is against the law to sell or supply alcohol to, or to obtain alcohol on behalf of a person under the age of 18 years. Lic No. LIQP770016424

*We endeavour to ensure the correct vintage is displayed, however some variations may occur in store and for delivered bottles.