2023 Thistledown This Charming Man Grenache

Highly Rated
An outstanding, graceful Grenache, from a very old vineyard in the Clarendon sub-region of McLaren Vale. Magic stuff for now or later.

Price:
Sale price$90.00
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In stock, ready to ship

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Description

Simply wonderful medium-bodied red out of McLaren Vale, so pure and precise, with great line, length and acidity.

It's 100% dry grown, bush vine Grenache from a 100+ year-old vineyard in Clarendon that has been maintained for generations by the Smart family - the charming man is one Bernard Smart...

Lightly tannic and lively-flavoured, it bursts with cherry and raspberry aromatics that make you return for sniff after sniff. Sweet red fruits and some spicy, graphitey notes flow on to a palate that is sandy, fine and, in a word... uplifting.

A few years would do it no harm but it wouldn't last that long in our cellar. A must-buy.

96 points
"It is a wonderful thing to experience the "feel" of the wine as much as the taste. Interacting with red wine in this way—and white as well—makes for thrilling drinking. It curls and winds its way through the long finish. It's super. A pleasure."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

96 points
"Exotic and resinous. Not the balletic pirouette of fragrance-meets-freshness of its sibling, necessarily. Yet, there’s more grunt, a little more extract, longer-limbed tannins and so much to believe in. Put this away for six-years and see what happens. I hedge towards magic, once the force-field of tannins settles."
- Ned Goodwin MW (James Suckling)

2023 is a poignant vintage marking the year we lost legendary grower and Charming Man, Bernard Smart. This vintage displays muscular yet elegant silky black fruits couple with deep, rich, warming spices, hints of violet, mineral and black cherry.

On a beautiful hillside in the Clarendon sub-region of McLaren Vale, three generations of the Smart family have devoted their lives to Grenache. Decades have passed where precious few valued their crop and yet they endured. That this remarkable vineyard has sustained is down to one man, Bernard Smart and this wine pays homage to this charming man.

A remarkable site that has vines of 100 years old. The entire site, planted high in the picturesque Clarendon sub-region, is dry grown bush vines and has been farmed by the same family for 3 generations. This wine is sourced from one particular block where the canopy is raised slightly higher above the ground, allowing for better air circulation and increased radiated sunlight.

Region: McLaren Vale, SA
Blend: Grenache (100%)
ABV: 14.50%
Closure: 750ml
Bottle Size:
Production:

96 points - "The 2023 The Charming Man Single Vineyard Grenache is altogether moodier and darker than the Sands of Time tasted alongside it, but that is not making a comment on "weight" or "density" but rather on character. Here, we have blackberry and mulberry, raspberry pip and star anise, layers of coal dust, dirt and graphite, clove and even nutmeg/cinnamon. The tannins are über fine, chalky, grippy and gently chewy. It is a wonderful thing to experience the "feel" of the wine as much as the taste. Interacting with red wine in this way—and white as well—makes for thrilling drinking. It curls and winds its way through the long finish. It's super. A pleasure. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap." - Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

96 points - "It is inescapable, the need to compare the iconic grenache cuvees from this producer. Each superlative, vying for top position with the other each year, the seeding oscillating with vintage vagaries and mood. This is a richer geological mold, more ferrous of make up, resulting in a more ferruginous wine. Still, it’s mid-weighted of feel, due to the inherent freshness and bulletproof tannin profile, rocky and sublime. Thyme, dried lavender, kirsch, cardamon, tamarind and rose water. Exotic and resinous. Not the balletic pirouette of fragrance-meets-freshness of its sibling, necessarily. Yet, there’s more grunt, a little more extract, longer-limbed tannins and so much to believe in. Put this away for six-years and see what happens. I hedge towards magic, once the force-field of tannins settles. Drinkable now, but best from 2027. Screw cap." - Ned Goodwin MW (James Suckling)

94 points - "Good perfume here. Rose hip tea, ginger biscuits, wild raspberry, a swathe of wild, green herbs and a touch of alpine herbal lift. The palate is firm and fine, grippy, granular, tightly wound and somewhat crisp. More cherry to taste, slightly amaro-like with a crunch of blood orange, more of the ginger biscuit thing going on with excellent persistence of quality tannin and some sweet spice meshed to alpine herb lift. Very fine boned, shimmers across the palate. Refreshing almost. Should mature well too." - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)

Thistledown

Thistledown wines was founded by UK natives Fergal Tynan, and Giles Cooke, the two MWs met while they began their WSET studies and formed a fast and strong bond.

While they have vineyards and wineries across the globe, Thistledown holds a special place in their hearts, with many of Giles' first forays into MW wine travel happening around Australia.

With renowned local winemaker Peter Leske on hand year-round, Giles is still quite hands-on with Thistledown, ensuring to be downunder throughout the year at key points in the winemaking process.

Giles Cooke MW Thistledown

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