95 points - "From 55-year-old estate dry-grown bush vines in Blewitt Springs; deep Maslin sand over ironstone and clay. This rounds out the single-site grenache bottlings. The clarity of making is the same, with each speaking of site, and all three pure, lithe and vibrant, but this presents now as the slightly more brooding of the trio. Dusky floral, deep red rose and warm brown spices over red and black cherry, ripening mulberry and freeze-dried raspberry, tannins insistent, presently coiled, acidity a driver. It’s a very nice wine, and the August release is on its side." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

94+ points - "Dark fruit, ripe raspberry, menthol, dark spice, a little mint and camphor. A deeper more concentrated style, dark berries, lots of firm chamois-like tannin, bright acidity, spicy and long. Chewy and grainy on the finish. Distinctive. Quite different to the Smart and Trott wines, in that it’s a little more guttural and rugged, yet so very engaging. Excellent." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

TASTING NOTE

Aromas of mixed berries - red berries/raspberries dominate the fruit expression but with some darker blackberries and cherries mixed in. Warm spices, hints of pepper and dried herbs.
Palate starts soft and textural with good fruit intensity and earthy complexity. Has good length of fresh berry fruit, fine acidity, and finishes with some chewy tannins.

VINTAGE

Weather conditions during spring were wet and windy which had an impact on flowering and resulted in small crops. Cool and wet conditions continued into early summer, but thankfully the rain stopped around Christmas time to allow the fruit to start to ripen and to keep the disease at bay. Harvest started much later than average due to the cooler conditions. The 23 vintage wines are showing elegance and finesse, with fresh fruit flavours, fine tannins and good acidity.

VINEYARD

Sourced from Willunga 100's own estate vineyard 'Blind Spot' Vineyard in the sub-region of Blewitt Springs (McLaren Vale). 100% dry grown bush vine Grenache from the “15 Acre Block”, South-West facing at 170m above sea level. Vine age is approximately 55 years old. The soils of the vineyard are deep Maslin sand over a base of ironstone and clay.

WINEMAKING

Fruit was hand harvested, destemmed and whole berry sorted into stainless steel open fermenters. The whole berry ferment spent 11 days on skins, during which time it was gently plunged to ensure optimum extraction whilst maintaining the delicate aromatics. Wine was basket pressed off skins before maturation and malolactic fermentation on lees majority in stainless steel to retain fruit purity and freshness. Vegan friendly