Talk about a win-win situation; it’s hard to know who is luckier — McLaren Vale winemaker Steve Pannell or the greater McLaren Vale wine region. Pannell’s recent acquisition of a prime piece of vineyard, winery and cellar door on Olivers Road in McLaren Vale marks a great day for all and sundry.
If there’s one winemaker who can move and shake McLaren Vale into its next stage of glory it is Pannell. He has more runs on the board than Don Bradman (obscure Aussie cricket reference for those who are wondering) when it comes to making great wine in this region and he has the leadership, vision and energy to bring others around him along for the ride.
In a region that has made a solid name for itself on the back of easygoing, generous shiraz, and more recently has started to re-embrace its heritage affinity with grenache and explore a slew of newly arrived Mediterranean red grapes, Pannell’s touch is near-perfectly matched to the task at hand. He has proven himself time and time again and this new home is a logical foundation for his future work.
“We’ve just bought the old Merivale Winery site which was bought by Rob Gerard to establish Tapestry when he sold Chapel Hill,” Pannell says driving around the property with his vineyard manager. The property, which includes eight hectares of vineyard, sits right next to the revered Paxton Jones Block and is just one well-struck fairway iron from his great mate Chester Osborn over at d’Arenberg.
Make no mistake, this is prime McLaren Vale real estate in terms of both vineyard and cellar door location. Vines run on both sides of the ridge, with sandy soil over the back and shiraz-loving red dirt on the seaward edge. There are two hectares of chardonnay becoming nero d’avola and hopefully negro amaro “effective immediately,” as Pannell puts it.
The winery is set to be re-commissioned for vintage 2015; there’s a brand new warehouse cum barrel store just completed, a substantial cellar door, commercial kitchen, event space, barbecue areas and plenty of parking. Just add great wine, and Pannell’s got plenty of that.
The new S.C. Pannell sign goes up on July 24th and they’ll be trading in an interim courtyard space whilst they re-furbish the cellar door to open late September. “We are going to do something fun and we have a whole lot of ideas with all the infrastructure in the world to play with,” Pannell says. “It’s a perfect home for us right on the golden mile of McLaren Vale.”
This is Pannell’s second significant recent purchase in the region, following the nearby vineyard he acquired last year. Wedged between Kays Amery Vineyard, the original Seaview Vineyard and the original Tintara Dr. Kelly Vineyard, that well-located site represents just over 30 hectares of land with 14 hectares planted to shiraz, cabernet sauvignon, touriga, mataro, graciano, tempranillo and aglianico.
There was chardonnay planted there when he bought that place too but, as you may have guessed, it was replanted “effective immediately.”
Photo: McLaren Vale winemaker Steve Pannell in front of his new headquarters.
Nick Stock is a renowned Australian wine writer, author, presenter and filmmaker who reports on his worldwide wine tasting experiences for JamesSuckling.com.
