Description
"The Sunrise vineyard was planted in 1920. The 2022 Sunrise Grenache marks the first time this wine has been made and released. Steve Pannell pruned the vineyard himself prior to purchasing it in 2021. The wine here is silky and seamless, packed with tannin, flavor and perfume. "I didn't make it any differently [than the other Grenaches]; I've just let the vineyard sing," he said. And sing, it does. This is a wholly complex, complete and persistently long wine. There are notes of Boscobel rose, sweet licorice, graphite, ironstone and tobacco. What a wine. In terms of character, this combines the texture and complexity of the Smart vineyard and the ethereal spice and delicacy of the Little Branch and then raises the bar of both to a whole new level. The release of this Sunrise Grenache marks the arrival of an "off-leash Pannell"; he has been tirelessly championing premium Grenache from McLaren Vale for years in his own oeuvre of structure, shape, tannin and freshness. The acquisition of this vineyard site has given him all the permission he needed, it seems. In many ways, it feels as if all of the Grenache that Pannell has made over the decades has been leading up to this point. It was worth the wait. And there are great things to come in future releases too." - 100 Points, Erin Larkin, Robert Parker Wine Advocate
"Deep, solid red-purple colour; earthy, broken rock and liquorice aromas, ironstone and graphite; the palate full-bodied and punchy with power and serious structure, the tannins firm yet supple and fleshy, rounded and long. A very concentrated, powerful, full-bodied grenache that is firmly at the serious end of the spectrum. Great extract and gravitas. So impressive now and will certainly live for decades." - 98 Points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review
"Raspberry rope, cherry pie, lots of dusty exotic spice, rosewater and musk, an earthy coffee ground bass note. It’s medium to full-bodied, lavish earthy and stony tannin, ginger and dried spice, almonds, a juicy orange character in flavour and acidity, then grainy and gently sappy on a finish that’s bold and long, though not without succulence of red fruits and so much energy. It’s superb." - 97 Points, Gary Walsh, The Wine Front
"First vintage. This is meant to be one of a pair, but owing to an expensive mistake by one of the winery staff, there is no Sunset 2022. From an old vineyard that was leased to d’Arenberg until the Pannells bought it. 100-year-old vines. Pannell admits that the fashionable sweet, juicy Grenaches do better in wine shows but he is aiming to make a wine to last with this. Distinctively tannic, very firm indeed at this point and apparently Sunset is/was even more tannic. A wine of ambition that needs time!" - 17+/20 Points, Jancis Robinson MW
