2023 Bulman Glen’s Vineyard Grenache Dry Red Wine

Highly Rated
Mark Bulman's debut Grenache from the ancient and treasured Stonegarden Vineyard in Eden Valley. 97 points. Campbell Mattinson.
5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
1 Review

Price:
Sale price$75.00
Stock:
Sold out
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Winemaker Mark Bulman made his mark through his outstanding work at Turkey Flat, and being the first winemaker to win the coveted Jimmy Watson award with a varietal Grenache. Now with Bulman wines, he is seeking to stamp his own individual imprint on the Australian wine scene. The debut wines are coming out all guns blazing.

The Glen’s Vineyard Grenache is a distinguished wine from the historic Stonegarden Vineyard in Eden Valley. Established in 1857, this vineyard features thin loam over red-brown clay and sandstone with gold-bearing quartz veins, at an altitude of 390 meters. These ancient vines and deeply historic terroir are both captured beautifully in this wonderful filigree expression of Grenache.

The 2023 vintage was hand-picked on April 1, 2023 (no April Fools here!), with 12% whole bunches included. The winemaking process involved 28 days on skins, followed by 178 days in a sandstone amphora.It's lighter and more red-fruited than its McLaren Vale counterpart but no less impressive.

Glen Monaghan, who grew the Grenache, and Mark Bulman for meticulous winemaking, should both take a bow. They have created a wine that is both a testament to its heritage. It's remarkable to see such an energetic modern wine from vines planted over a hundred and fifty years ago. Kudos to all involved.

We can't wait to see what's next from Mark's solo exploits...

97 points
"This wine sets sail for eden, as a concept, and then returns to Eden, as its home. It throws characters of stone, concrete, redcurrant, blood orange, mint, rust, seaweed and assorted other shopping list items, but it’s the flamboyance of its scent, the long raking farmland of tannin, and the collection of blood-splattered stones that really set it in its place. Yes, I think it’s good.

I also think it’s a steal."
- Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

97 points
"Wild cherry, redcurrant, dusty white peppercorns, tamarind, orange peel, bitter herbs and a rugged mineral line rendered refined, evoking graphite, iron and struck rock, the drive of calmly resolute tannin sheathed elegantly with silky fruit, giving this an effortless feel, an engaging ease. That takes nothing away from the seriousness, though. It’s pinnacle Barossa grenache."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

97 points - "It can take a long time for the right person to walk into the right place, but when Mark Bulman, infused with the confidence of a Jimmy Watson grenache win, stepped onto the Stonegarten Vineyard with a mind to make a mark under his own name, various cogs in the universe shifted, and something important slipped into place. If Stonegarten was called Skywalker, I’d say that this vineyard has finally met its father, though in this case, I’ll settle for its maker. This is simply an exquisite wine. My first reaction, in all honesty, was that it’s completely different to anything I’ve seen previously from the Eden Valley. And yet, the longer I sat with it, the more Eden Valley it seemed. This wine sets sail for eden, as a concept, and then returns to Eden, as its home. It throws characters of stone, concrete, redcurrant, blood orange, mint, rust, seaweed and assorted other shopping list items, but it’s the flamboyance of its scent, the long raking farmland of tannin, and the collection of blood-splattered stones that really set it in its place. Yes, I think it’s good. I also think it’s a steal." - Campbell Mattinson (The Wine Front)

97 points - "Wild cherry, redcurrant, dusty white peppercorns, tamarind, orange peel, bitter herbs and a rugged mineral line rendered refined, evoking graphite, iron and struck rock, the drive of calmly resolute tannin sheathed elegantly with silky fruit, giving this an effortless feel, an engaging ease. That takes nothing away from the seriousness, though. It’s pinnacle Barossa grenache." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

97 points - "The 2023 Glen's Vineyard Grenache hails from the Eden Valley—Springton specifically. Although, if we are being specific, the fruit here is from the Stonegarden vineyard, planted in the middle 1850s. I am tasting it today alongside the ethereal and bloody rendition of Gary's Vineyard from Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale. Aromatically, these wines are unbelievably fragrant and precise. Here, the Eden Valley wine is all licorice and crushed quartz, mineral and earth-derived pleasure. It feels grounded and real, with top notes of raspberry pip and dried herbs.

In the mouth, the wine is saturated with flavor—arnica, salted licorice—and altogether darker and more pronounced than the lacy detail of the Gary's Vineyard. There is more weight to the palate, with smoky, ashy overtones and lashings of fruit. The tannins feel finer and more tightly woven than the open-weave of the McLaren Vale wine. These are firm statements of the versatility and eloquence of Grenache from different sites, and both are extraordinary statements of high-quality Grenache from Australia.

Occasionally, wines make themselves known through the grapevine, so to speak. Some wines make such an impression that word gets out, and we are left with no choice but to track them down. The Bulman Grenaches are such wines. I heard about them from another wine reviewer here in Australia and set out to find how I might taste them.

Mark Bulman was winemaker at Turkey Flat in the Barossa from 2008 and developed a love for Grenache during that time. The 2016 Turkey Flat won the Jimmy Watson Trophy at the Royal Melbourne Wine Show in 2017, the first time a varietal Grenache had won that trophy. It marked a turning point in Bulman's career, and these wines seem to be the starting point, the open door to the next chapter in his career.

While both the Blewitt Springs and Eden Valley wines here are starkly defined and distinct, they are united in their pure representation of Grenache's capability for tannic structure without the support of oak. Both wines are impressively shaped and textured. Both wines make a clear statement of the beauty inherent in this grape in Australia. Resistance, as they say, is futile." - Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)

Customer Reviews

5.0
Rated 5.0 out of 5 stars
Based on 1 review
Total 5 star reviews: 1 Total 4 star reviews: 0 Total 3 star reviews: 0 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
1 review
  • GT
    George T.
    Verified Buyer
    1 month ago
    Rated 5 out of 5 stars
    Deserves that 97 point review

    Fantastic wine, cherry and raspberry, firm tannins, special wine.

Reviews LoadedReviews Added

Stonegarden Vineyard established in 1857.

Vineyard established in 1857. Thin loam over a substrate of red-brown clay covering sandstone with gold bearing quartz veins. Micaceous schist fragments scattered throughout. 390m Altitude. In the rain shadow of the Mount Lofty ranges on a plateau looking easterly over the Murray Mallee.

Glen Monaghan grew the Grenache for the 2023 Vintage.

2023 Glen’s Vineyard Grenache – Picked on 1/4/23. 12% whole bunch. 28 Days on skins pre-ferment, 8 day ferment, 36 days on skins post ferment. 178 days in a sandstone amphora.

Built by quarrying into the hill and using the extracted rocks to build its walls, the original Stonegarden Winery sits proudly on the vineyard to this day. One small segment of wall within the winery has not been rendered and remains exposed. Over the winter a damp creeps into the wall and a small garden of maidenhair fern grow from the rock, creating a ‘stone garden’. The label shows a silhouette of a maidenhair fern sitting within subtly embossed rocks from the stone wall.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Full Bodied
Variety Grenache
Country Australia
Region Eden Valley
Australian State SA
Feature High Score
Reviewed By The Wine Front
Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 97
Alcohol 14%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2023
Closure Cork

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Shipping

Delivery is free on orders of $150 or more!

For orders under this amount, delivery is calculated at checkout based on your postcode. You can order in any quantity or combination of wines you like. Straight dozens are not required.

We will dispatch your order the same or next business day.

Estimated delivery transit time varies depending on your location. Please review this page for specific estimates.

Sydney (Our Vans): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions our driver will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so if not, they will return the item to us and hold your order until further instruction from you. 

Melbourne (Anonymous Wine Freight): If no one is home and there are no special delivery instructions, the courier will try to call for instructions. If the driver believes there is a safe space to leave your wine they will do so. if not, they will return the item to their dispatch centre and hold until further instruction from you.

Australia Post: Australia Post will leave the parcel if they have been given authority to leave and it is deemed safe to do so. To give your Authority to Leave, please enter this in the 'SPECIAL REQUEST' box at checkout.

Ordering

We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. If you see a lower price elsewhere, just get in touch and we will sort it out for you. We handle all our price-matching on a case by case basis.

Some things to keep in mind: 

  • Retrospective price-matching is available for 30 days after you have purchased from us.
  • The price match cannot be used in conjunction with a coupon or one-off deal we are offering. The idea is for you to get the best price in the market so if that is already achieved through a coupon then we won't price match on top of that.
  • We don't price match clearance or fire sales.
  • We’ll match the listed price as long as it is a legitimate offer and the competing store is actually able to fulfil the order (they have stock or more stock is en route). Essentially we won't price match cheeky vendors listing wines they have no hope of actually getting for you...
  • It must be a publicly listed price. We won't match a price that has been achieved through a coupon/cash-back arrangement, or through a non-advertised offer over the phone or otherwise.  
  • It is limited to a reasonable retail quantity.

We'll treat each price match request on its merit and reserve the right to refuse where we deem fit. For example, particularly rare wines, from non-trust-worthy vendors, in circumstances we deem illegitimate or if we feel our policy is being unfairly taken advantage of.

At the end of the day, we'll look after you and use common sense to ensure you're getting the best price, please just don't take the p%$$!

No, feel free to mix it up! There is no minimum requirement. You can order wines in any quantity or combination, 1 or 50+ bottles.

We stock three different sized gift boxes (single, three bottle and six), all are available for purchase for a flat rate of $8. They look great and make an awesome impression.

To add a gift box to your order, simply add at checkout. The special requests box is your friend, please give us as many details of what you are looking for and we will try our best, or get in contact to discuss it with you. 

If you want to bulk order gifts or if you have any trouble please email hello@differentdrop.com or call and we can try and help.

 

If you can't add more wine to your cart it means we are low on stock of that wine. For example, if you are only able to 3 bottles and no more that means we only have 3 bottles left of that wine. If it's a must have, please contact us and we may be able to order more in for you.

Call Us

Send a message