S.C. Pannell Smart Grenache 2023

97 POINTS

Marcus Ellis - Halliday Wine Companion

From 68-year-old vines in Clarendon, with the wine dedicated to the man who planted and farmed them, the much-loved and missed Bernard Smart. The Smart wine is always elegant, and that follows here, though it has plenty of stuffing considering it was a very cool season. Perhaps, I overuse the word savoury, but here we are again. It’s true across the impeccable single-site trio. This needs air, which sees an unfurling of exotic spices, rosewater, musk and dried orange peel notes, more moody than heady, the fruit flavour red but also tartly black fruited, with some sour black cherry notes, along with black tea and bergamot, even a scent of star anise. The tannins incisive, resolute but not demanding; the wine, another triumph.

97 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2023 Smart Grenache was significantly lower in yield (less than half) than the normal. The color in the glass, when poured side by side with the 2022, is far darker. The seasons were very different, and the 2023 here smells as if it's been turbocharged. It is supple, svelte, concentrated and almost plush. The palate shows the same. This is incredibly silky and seamless, with notes of sweet pouch tobacco, pomegranate molasses, raspberry/rhubarb and paprika dolce tannins. The texture here is like Dutch cocoa—super fine and gritty without being gravelly or blunt. This is super. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.