The Pannells describe this red as 'Italianicity with a McLaren Vale soul', which translates into a red wine with all the savoury heartiness of southern Italian red wine but with a little of the giving warmth of McLaren Vale. You get a firm, rich and quite tannic sort of red that tastes of dried fruit, black olives, leather and then a long finish. It's red wine for long lunches and slow-cooked meat, demanding you slow down and enjoy your glass of bold red.

Sometimes, you come across a wine in which you can truly taste the passion, drive and love that went into making it. More often than not, such wines come out of Australian regions such as McLaren Vale. Our favourite example at the moment? It’s got to be the wines of SC Pannell, a genuine passion project founded by husband and wife team Steve and Fiona back in 2004, and which has grown from strength to strength to become an award winning business with a global fanbase. This is a winery which has an almost unhealthy obsession with Shiraz and Grenache grapes, and genuinely goes the extra mile when it comes to ensuring sustainable methods, capable of bringing out levels of flavour and aroma that set a new benchmark for McLaren Vale as a whole. More than that, Steve is an innovator, toiling away with different grapes, different blends, different vineyards to craft charismatic expressions from McLaren vale and beyond.