Stephen Pannell’s Many-Splendoured Grenache
“The perfume is alluring. The wine is not about weight. There’s a lightness of touch on the palate that makes you think and engage with the wine. Making those wines that are contradictory, that’s the hardest thing to do.”
Stephen Pannell is talking about Nebbiolo—except we’re really talking about Grenache. And, as he’s wont to do, he’s hit the nail on the head on the latter’s perceived limitations. Love, after all, is a many-splendored thing. Is Grenache?
On tasting Steve's three single-site releases from 2022, I took the opportunity to speak to this guru of Grenache about how to convince others of the tension, texture and complexity this grape can achieve.
A glass with Jancis Robinson
“Oh, I learn things every day!” says Her Royal Vinous, Jancis Robinson. “I suppose that’s one plus point of the world of wine expanding so much, and then there are all the new consumers.” Jancis talks to Ed Merrison of Vininspo! about her universal wine glass and the 8th edition of The World Atlas of Wine.
Dream Weaver: An Adelaide Hills pioneer
“It’s just so grand to be there,” says Geoff Weaver of his slice of Adelaide Hills heaven. “It’s beautiful to be engaged in what’s essentially an agricultural, horticultural and artistic pursuit in this glorious countryside,” he says
Theresa Breuer, the rebel’s daughter
Theresa Breuer was just 20 when her father Bernhard - perhaps Germany’s doughtiest campaigner for its dry Riesling - died suddenly in 2004. But she barely blinked before continuing the Rheingau estate’s trajectory as one of the finest in the world.
To be dexeterous & deft
“The ups and downs were extraordinary,” says Tod Dexter of the Mornington Peninsula’s learning curve. In fact, his journey is full of twists and turns of all sorts, beginning with a US ski season that turned into a life in wine. Ed Merrison of Vininspo! has the story.
Don Quijote de la Yarra
“I’ve always enjoyed a sense of adventure, and as you get older you realise that pretty much everyone is on a journey in some respect,” says Andrew Marks. The self-styled Wanderer’s peregrinations between the Yarra Valley and Spain’s Costa Brava make him obvious fodder for Vininspo!