Growing up near great surf breaks infected Steve with a life-long love of the ocean and an attachment to the joys of riding long-boards that shows no sign of abating.
As a kid working in the family’s pioneering Margaret River vineyard, Moss Wood, Steve would hang out for the end of the day when his father would take the kids the long way home and stop off at the beach in Yallingup for a restorative session of body surfing.
Steve freely admits that he feels lost if he strays too far from the ocean’s edge which might explain why his own winemaking career has brought him to McLaren Vale, where the vines are cooled by the gentle breezes from the gulf named after St Vincent, patron saint of winegrowers.
While the waves rolling at nearby Port Wilunga may not quite be of the same stature of those pounding Margaret River, they’re perfectly suited to the more sedate longboard surfing that’s now the preferred Pannell method.