Thistledown The Thorny Devil Grenache 2019
In 2019, the fruit for Thorny Devil came from a variety of some of the finest vineyards in McLaren Vale. Old bush trained vines and sandy, mineral strewn vineyards ensure that this is amongst our most delicious Grenaches.
The resulting wine has the characteristic McLaren Vale perfume and spice with a beguiling texture and perfume that keeps you interested.
93 points James Suckling
92 points The Wine Front
90 points Wine Spectator
With Grenache, we are always looking to maximise fruit purity, texture and finesse rather than making a.n. other rich red wine. While there is no denying that Grenache is more burly than Pinot, we always have the vision of making Pinot style wines within the, albeit, challenging framework of Grenache!
The Fruit was hand-picked and 30% whole bunches retained in the ferment. Fermentation began naturally and hand plunging twice a day was carried out through to dryness. Gently pressed off skins before 10 months in old oak hogsheads.
Though the season was late, cool and sometimes damp, it ended with lower than average rainfall. Above average rainfall in July and August filled soil profiles and dams but from then on the season was very dry. Dry weather characterised the 2018 vintage and the low disease pressure coupled with ideal conditions for flowering and early development set the vines up excellently. With virtually no rainfall between January and April, fruit quality in all areas was very good though some heat stress in February led to isolated defoliation.
