S.C.Pannell Syrah

This cool climate Syrah was the winner of Australia's most prestigious wine competition the 2014 Jimmy Watson Trophy awarded to the best one year old red. The follow up 2014 has just arrived. It's certainly a delicious wine, from Echunga 410 metres above sea level in the Southern Adelaide Hills. Hand picked grapes, 15% whole bunches and aged 12 months in larger format French oak. It's a lovely perfumed wine with black and morello cherry, bacon fat, spice, dried herbs and oak. Really bright and fresh with lovely black and red berry and cherry fruit, spice, pepper hints of meat, liquorice, olive and creamy oak. Delicious now with lots going on but sure to soften and evolve. Very impressive. "A very handy follow-up to the previous vintage which won the coveted Jimmy Watson Trophy, in fact, this could be a nose in front in terms of quality. The 2014 vintage was cooler, than 2013, producing a more compact, composed and muscular wine. It sacrifices nothing in terms of immediate appeal and polish though, all blackberry and black cherry fruits with plenty of spice, a little peppery edge and a thread of dark graphite-like stony allure. The palate is saturated in flavour with a mesh-like weave of fine, well-defined tannin. It's got all the promise of 6 or more years in the cellar, and all the seductive allure to drink immediately. Great wine. Best from 2018. " 96 points Nick Stock, James Suckling