Thistledown- The Vagabond Grenache
Country: Australia Region: Blewitt Springs
Varietal: Grenache Vintage: 2022
Category: Red Wine Style: Dry
Producer: Thistledown
Description:
The thistle is an apt image for a producer that, for all its rugged exterior, makes wines that possess a delicacy, subtlety and beauty that constantly surprise. At home in the Adelaide Hills, Thistledown handcrafts small parcels of wine from vineyards chosen for their soul as well as soil. Thistledown wines look to reflect the terroir by picking for optimal balance rather than power and by winemaking that is, wherever possible, hands off.
Sourced from three remarkable sites in the famed Blewitt Springs sub-region of McLaren Vale, this wine possesses a beautifully complex, aromatic nose of violets, wild cherry, rosemary and warming spice. The palate is energetic yet polished and smooth with vibrant cherry, spice, wild strawberry and liquorice on the palate. Medium bodied but multi-layered and textural with a very long, aromatic finish.
"Deep, bright purple-red colour; a gently scented bouquet of raspberry and blackcurrant pastilles, fringed with subtle spices. The wine is full bodied and there are ample fine-grained tannins that impart pleasing structure and contribute to its length. A very smart grenache that will age well but can also be enjoyed young. Best served with North African and Middle Eastern cuisine or robust fish dishes. The crew at Thistledown are Grenache-obsessed - they know how fantastic the McLaren Vale region is at producing stellar Grenache, and they sure love to show it off. An excellent example of a well made, boutique wine."
"Blewitt Springs, an Australian grand cru equivalent. Old bush vines, as is the wont. Wild fermented with a good portion of whole bunches, some in concrete pyramids sans agitation, before ageing in concrete and large neutral oak. Brilliant! Like a slinky, before release over the top step, as riffs on persimmon, Seville orange, rosehip, pomegranate and impeccably ripe cherry clafoutis unwind and expand with a rattle. Long. A sandy scape of gorgeous tannins. World class."
This wine shows a beautifully complex, aromatic nose of red cherries, violets, garrigue herbs and warm, culinary spices. The palate is nervy and tense, yet polished and smooth with a vibrant flavour set of cherries, spice, strawberry and liquorice. The medium body has huge complexity and a gorgeously engaging texture with a very long, flavour-filled finish.
