Between 4 and 6pm this Friday (9th), we have Aether Brewing cracking a couple of cold ones for us all to enjoy. A Brisbane-based favourite who have stood tall this past decade within an undoubtedly competitive scene, this team have keyed into an even sharper stride of late, in our eyes looking as tasty as ever - Pale Ales, West Coasts, Stouts, you name it! A perfect end-of-week tipple awaits.
And for Saturday (10th), one of those names that will always remain a pleasure to showcase returns - S.C. Pannell, plus head winemaker Steve's secondary premium project, Koomilya! Making a rather significant splash last year was the 'Sunrise' Grenache, and the second release of this exciting powerhouse red is in line as the star pupil once again, alongside its brother, the 'Sunset', being released for the very first time after an unfortunate mishap in 2022. The Koomilya's are certainly no lightweights either; Shiraz both ample and elegant (with Estate and JC Block), the striking and unique Cabernet Touriga blend, plus the tasty new release of Halliday's 2027 Rosé of the Year, the Mataro Rosé.
Steve's obsessive and meticulous approach to winemaking has won us, and a great many wine-loving souls over. Those familiar with the McLaren Vale already know just how special the sites there can be for these classic varietals - take the Little Branch Vineyard, for instance. 9 hectares in size, and home to Grenache vines over a century old - Steve rightfully sees his team as true custodians of such treasured land. These vines have seen a lot in their time on the planet, and whether on the nose or palate, their fruit always has so much to say. Join us between 12 and 2pm, and allow them to speak to you!
Koomilya Mataro Rose 2026
$42 on special ($49 RRP)
"2027 Rosé of the Year. Centenarian mataro vines now dedicated for rosé. Steve Pannell takes rosé seriously. He’s not interested in making a secondary product; best foot forward and all that. And this strides out confidently. Not flashy mind you, just impeccable fruit quality from exemplary farming and pinpoint picking time. Such a fine thing, awash with orange and rose, pink grapefruit, blood orange, tart strawberries and white cherries. It does all the rosé things, yielding refreshment and succulent fruitful engagement, but it’s much more than that. Balance is à point, the pithy texture in concert with resolved acidity perfectly played, the vinous pleasure exceptional. Rosé is often seen as a ‘beverage’ wine, but this is a seriously exciting wine by any metric." - 96 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion (2025 Vintage)
SC Pannell Blewitt Springs Grenache 2024
$39 on special ($45 RRP)
"Medium-full depth of colour with a slight trace of purple remaining in the rim, and the bouquet shows detailed dried and fresh herb aromas with a lift of Asian spices including five-spice. The wine is medium-full bodied and savoury with drying powdery tannins and suggestions of raspberry coulis and Campari. Serious Grenache with potential for further improvement with ageing." - 93 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
SC Pannell Little Branch Grenache
$79 on special ($90 RRP)
"The Smart and Old McDonald wines have left the Pannell grenache stable, with the focus on estate fruit. This from 35-year-old trellised vines, but now also with 40% of the centenarian bush vines; 12% whole bunch, maturation in old oak vat and puncheons. This is charming from first pour. Not flashy, just engaging and open, yet with trademark tannin scaffolding. Fruit flavours are a little darker, deeper than the '23, tracing the vintages. Red and black cherry, fresh and pressed rose, ras el hanout spicing, wild raspberry, pomegranate molasses, musk and rosewater, warm terracotta, dried orange and rust. The palate is savoury, absent a sweetspot; instead, fruit is enmeshed in those natural tannins – grippy, pithy, sandy and impressively persistent." - 96+ Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion (2023 Vintage)
SC Pannell Sunrise 100 Grenache 2023
$218 on special ($245 RRP)
"The second release from this home vineyard in Blewitt Springs. The 100 here references 100 years of vintages from these vines (omitting the fledgling unproductive years). All destemmed fruit, old oak, frugal quantities. This sits in a moodier, brooding zone – refined and unadorned, though – with dark red fruits corded into a structure of assertive natural tannin and energetic acidity. Air reveals dried cranberry and cherry, raspberry leaf tea, subdued souk spices, tobacco leaf, rusted iron, dried rose, bergamot, a brooding malty note, like dark rye bread. It’s a wine of many layers, so closely serried that they are initially easy to miss. That compression, the complex weave of tannin, the vibrant drive of acid all mark this as a wine that will age spectacularly." - 98 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion
SC Pannell Sunset Grenache 2023
$218 on special ($245 RRP)
"Missing in '22, this is the debut pair to the Sunrise, with these centenarian vines catching the afternoon sun. Two blocks, same material, same age, quite different wines, though kindred. While the Sunrise is a little coiled, a little within itself, this is expressive and lifted, yet no less a wine of future promise. Steve Pannell likes a nebbiolo comparison for grenache, and while that often feels akin to Langhe Nebbiolo or Barbaresco in McLaren Vale, here Barolo is a more apt touchstone. Warm terracotta, papery faded flowers, pomegranate, blood orange, cherry, rosehip, star anise, dried orange peel, dried black cherry, sun-drenched wild fennel seeds. So much going on. A truly stellar wine, resting on a foundation of vigorous but cohesive acidity and a classically ensnaring web of complex natural tannins with resounding length of flavour. A wine of place, and one that I had open for four days without it tiring, rather further revealing itself. Such beauty, such intrigue. A wine to sit back and admire; great by any measure." - 98+ Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion
Koomilya Cabernet Touriga 2021
$79 on special ($89 RRP)
"The stylish 2021 Cabernet Sauvignon Touriga Koomilya delivers a composed and refined core of leather and violet aromas that are effortless with reserved power. It has impressive weight and structure while retaining subtlety before building to a lengthy and generous finish. This feels like something special." - 94 Points Angus Hughson, Vinous
Koomilya Estate Shiraz 2022
$64 on special ($74 RRP)
"Taken from two blocks of low yielding, unirrigated Shiraz planted in the early 1990’s by the previous custodians, Don and Jill Cant. Nursed and nurtured since purchase in 2014 these blocks are ready to produce a Koomilya Estate Shiraz. The second year of the current La Nina cycle saw a wet winter and spring followed by a mild summer and a dry autumn. Poor flowering due to wild spring weather including high winds, frost and hail led to lower than desired yields. Quality was good due to the long, slow ripening period. A vintage to watch!" - SC Pannell, Winemaker
Koomilya JC Block Shiraz 2023
Available for pre-order
$110 on special ($125 RRP)
"The '22 was Shiraz of the Year for the 2026 Wine Companion, and this couldn’t be a more convincing follow-up. Of the three block wines, the JC generally tops the charts. The winemaking is similar, with some whole bunch and oak only as vessel. For me, it’s the completeness, the unhurried and unaffected feel it has, and the timbre of site, resonant in the glass. Laden with spice, feeling of another time. It’s a wine that feels untarnished by modern ambitions, by hubris. Tar and darkly red fruits, the scent of a bush floor after rain, a rusted iron gate, a forgotten brick hearth. It’s an intrinsically Australian landscape – a reflection, not a construction, and it’s exceptional." - 98 Points, Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion
If you wish to purchase any of these wines, please use the links above ?
Otherwise, if you have any questions, please contact us on (07)32521117 or email sales@thewineemporium.com.au
// Special prices valid until Wednesday the 14th of October