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There are Grenaches that charm, and then there are Grenaches that draw a line in the sand. S.C. Pannell’s Sunrise 99, from a century-old McLaren Vale vineyard, feels like the latter: a debut that arrives fully formed, pitched at the serious, ageworthy end of the spectrum while still humming with McLaren Vale warmth, but this is no $45 special at $250 a bottle you want it to be special.
APPEARANCE >
In the glass, Sunrise 99 sits a deep, vivid red-purple, denser than many modern “crunchy” Grenaches, with a kind of inner glow that hints at concentration rather than heat. Slow, well-formed legs suggest a wine built on both ripeness and structure, more grand cru mindset than glou-glou.
NOSE >
The nose is unapologetically intense: wild raspberry and dark cherry, kirsch, and macerated plum fold into Boscobel rose, rosewater and sweet licorice. Beneath the fruit, there’s ironstone and graphite, dried herbs, tobacco leaf and a dusting of ginger and exotic spice, giving a distinctly stony, almost ferrous bass line that feels very Sunrise block.
PALATE >
Sunrise 99 is where Grenache’s supposed lightness meets a very different intent. The palate is medium to full-bodied, silky and seamless at first pass, but quickly reveals firm, lavishly earthy tannins and a core of dark, tightly packed fruit—blackberry, cherry pie, blood orange and a twist of citrus peel. Acidity is vibrant and mouthwatering, carrying flavours of hibiscus, sarsaparilla, dried spice and almond through the mid-palate before the structure takes over, giving the wine a sense of latent power rather than overt sweetness.
LENGTH >
This is a wine that doesn’t so much finish as slowly dim: the afterglow is long, grainy and insistent, with graphite, orange zest, savoury earth and red-fruit succulence echoing long after the glass is empty. Critics are already calling it “persistently long” and “built to last”, and you feel that on the palate—this is a decades, not years, proposition. Cellar comfortably for 10–20 years; the tannin architecture and extract are there to reward patience.
PAIRING >
Despite its seriousness, Sunrise 99 still wants a table, not a tasting bench. Think slow-roasted lamb shoulder with rosemary and garlic, charcoal-grilled butterflied goat, or smoked eggplant with pomegranate and cumin where the wine’s spice, earth and tannin can lock in step with fat and char. It would also sing alongside game birds, harissa-spiced quail or a richly reduced tomato and olive braise—dishes with enough savoury depth to match the wine’s gravitas rather than compete with its perfume.
VERDICT >
Sunrise 99 feels like the culmination of Steve Pannell’s long campaign for serious McLaren Vale Grenache: an “off-leash” statement wine from 100-year-old vines that marries perfume, tannin and site in a way that’s rare anywhere, let alone in a first release. Hundred-point scores and sky-high ratings aside, what matters in the glass is its tension—between silk and stone, fragrance and firmness, immediacy and longevity—which makes each sip feel both complete and full of promise. It’s not the playful, jubey Grenache currently in vogue; it’s the bottle you open for a serious dinner, or tuck away as a marker of where Australian Grenache, and McLaren Vale in particular, can go from here. This is a lovely wine and quite special but in my humble opinion it is a little over priced (feels like a $100-150 rather than a $250 wine) thus the score.
