McLaren Vale winemaker Steve Pannell: the red baron

MAX ALLEN: I first met Steve Pannell 21 years ago — almost to the day — at the Tintara winery in McLaren Vale, south of Adelaide. It was the 29-year-old’s first vintage as red winemaker for Hardys, one of the country’s oldest and largest wine companies. The 1995 harvest was just drawing to a close; on the tasting bench in the winery were glasses of deep purple, raw young Shiraz. Pannell was like a kid in a lolly shop that day…