One of the best red wines in Australia, this wine was awarded Best Australian Grenache by James Halliday and is one of the most extraordinary wines you'll be likely to meet for a very long time.
An exceptional old-vine McLaren Vale Grenache that stands amongst the best international expressions of the variety.
It is stunning. A velvet-smooth Grenache with beautiful, haunting aromatics, fine-grained tannins and a wonderful, memorable length on the finish. Ripe plum, red-currants, summer fruits, morello cherry and layers of delicious moreish spices will force you to search for more Grenache or just for the rest of the bottle.
Sourced from one vineyard in Blewitt Springs, planted in 1952, this wine perfectly articulates why this sub-region of McLaren Vale is producing some of the best Grenache wines in Australia today. The quality of fruit that this vineyard has produced has consistently been some of the highest in the world.
The winemaking is a serious work of art - or labour of love. After the fruit is hand-picked, it is fermented naturally in concrete, with whole bunches placed alternately with de-stemmed fruit, creating a layer cake. It is a very gentle, slow fermentation followed by maturation in oak and concrete before a careful selection and blending before bottling, without fining or filtration, 10 months later.
Early on in their Grenache-obsessed journey, the Thistledown team were introduced to Sue Trott’s "Home Block" in the Blewitt Springs. Its beautiful aspect, raised elevation and free-draining deep sandy soils are the perfect spot for gnarly old dry-grown bush-vine Grenache and they felt so lucky to be offered the opportunity to purchase a little fruit. Five years on and they have learned a little about the site and refined their picking decisions and vinification to the extent that from 2017 they were content that they could do the site justice by bottling separately.
This "love letter to Grenache" is beautifully made and has undoubtedly become a showcase wine for Thistledown. A great match for many Asian-style dishes as long as they aren’t too spicy...
Very limited stocks.
Loved and feted by critics:
THE BEST GRENACHE IN AUSTRALIA, James Halliday Wine Companion
96 points, James Suckling
96+ points, Robert Parker
Region: McLaren Vale
Country: Australia
Grape(s): Grenache
Style: Structured, Smooth, Rich, Medium Full, Juicy, Intense, Full, Fruity, Elegant, Dry, Dark, Complex, Balanced
Best food matches: Wild Boar, Tapas, Steak, Ribs, Red Meats, Lamb, Chinese, Casseroles, Beef
Alcohol: 14.5%
