5 STAR WINERY RATING – WINE COMPANION
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
