SC Pannell Basso Grenache 2023

The 2023 season in McLaren Vale was wet and cool. The wines have been sensational. Detailed, mineral, floral and a little ashy, I find them to be ethereal and beguiling. So here, the 2023 Basso Grenache is everything that the season promised, with notes of garden rose petals, a leafy, green tea note and all things exotic, like star anise/cracked fennel seed and caraway, even. The fruit here is handpicked from a dry-grown vineyard in Blewitt Springs. This is a super wine, with the tannin (and therefore texture) at the foreground of the experience, as usual. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate