Thistledown Gorgeous Grenache 2021
Grenache is Australia’s signature grape variety and we’re slightly obsessed with it. Utilising a range of premium vineyards across South Australia, we’ve crafted a wine that captures all that is good about Grenache. Aromatic, deceptively light but with beautiful wild fruit, and slurpy, supple tannins. Aromatic and lifted on the nose with a beautifully layered, textural palate with wild strawberry and spice.
92pts Gary Walsh – The Wine Front ‘Juicy red fruits, almond, a fair bit of spice, perfume and a little mint. Medium-bodied, a light dusting of tannin, clean acidity, red fruit succulence, but keeps itself dry and almost a little serious. Finish is good, gently saline, with playful tannin and quiet perfume. Delightful. Top value.’
90 pts Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate
90 pts & TOP VALUE – Huon Hooke, The Real Review
90 pts Ned Goodwin MW, Halliday Wine Companion -“Bright, tangy and easy. Black cherry, raspberry, orange zest and a grind of white pepper. Feels suave and mid weighted, rather than full. A versatile everyday drinker.”
100% Grenache
The fruit for this wine is sourced from a number of really old vineyards, primarily in South Australia’s Riverland region. These “soldier blocks” date back to WW1 and WW2, after which, the Australian government gifted land to returning soldiers to get them back on their feet. Thistledown has mapped out these old plots and works with the growers on a long term basis to add value to a previously forgotten resource. The result is a sustainable future for the growers and their vineyards, as well as delicious wine. Using the same philosophy and approach as for their top single vineyard wines, Thistledown taste extensively and pick on the way up to ensure that the fruit is balanced and energetic on arrival at the winery. Multiple ferments combine traditional techniques with open, spontaneous, 100% whole bunch cuvees, partial whole bunch ferments and a gentle extraction regime throughout to encourage the more “pinot” side of Grenache to emerge. As with all Thistledown wines, the approach is detailed, sensitive to each site, with winemaking that allows the fruit to sing.
Rare is the vintage that combines good yields and high quality but 2021 was just that. A remarkable vintage in that it was once again pandemic affected but that it was measured and mild with none of the heat spikes or drought conditions of recent years. With good levels of winter rains filling soil profiles, the mild weather with intermittent rains throughout the growing and ripening season ensured that fruit ripened over a long period of time and the vintage was one of the longest in recent history. The results are spectacular, healthy fruit, moderate sugars and complex flavours, have resulted in wines of beautiful balance, fragrance and varietal typicity.
Alcohol: 14.5%
Total Acidity: 5.78 g/l
pH: 3.62
Residual Sugar: 1 g/l
SO2: 78 mg/l
Fining: None
Vegan: Yes
Vegetarian: Yes
