2024 Aphelion Wait Vineyard Grenache
2024 Aphelion Wait Vineyard Grenache

2024 Aphelion Wait Vineyard Grenache

96 pts
Aphelion |McLaren Vale |Grenache
The most structured and savoury of Rob Mack’s single-vineyard Grenaches - dark, earthy and built for ageing or rich food.
Price:
$70.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
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Description

We’ve always thought of the Wait Vineyard as the most structural of Rob Mack’s trio of single-vineyard Grenaches. It’s from the same pocket of Blewitt Springs as the Brini site, but the fruit here has more structure and depth - darker, earthier, and more savoury.

Hand-picked, 100% whole bunch fermented, and matured in large neutral oak, this wine is all about texture and restraint. There’s no fancy oak polish or artifice - just layers of dark cherry, turned earth, and that slightly saline edge that’s so distinct to the site. The tannins are firm and persistent, carrying the savoury flavours right through the finish.

It’s built for the table - something you can put next to a rich ragu or roast lamb. If you’re patient, it’ll only get better over the next decade - a stunner!

Erin Larkin

Erin Larkin

The Wine Advocate 96 Points

The 2024 Wait Single Site Grenache won't be released until late 2025, and the wine is showing notes of Campari and blood orange, raspberry seed and poached rhubarb. On the palate, this wine really shines, and it shows the power and succulence of the 2024 season. This has surprisingly low alcohol, but it works really well—the fruit and tannins feel ripe, despite this. It is almost an entire degree lower in alcohol than usual. 13.2% alcohol, sealed under Diam Origine. Rob Mack, winemaker/propreitor of Aphelion in McLaren Vale is thoughtful, intelligent and quietly spoken, with an enduring respect for Grenache. This is the business that he has built with his wife Lou Mack. A graduate of the Len Evans Tutorial and a McLaren Vale local, Rob is an experienced wine show judge and a lover of Barolo and saké. Mack's wines tend to take on the delicacy and ethereal quality that both styles exhibit, and the inherent quality of McLaren Vale Grenache is well matched to his drinking proclivities. This is a small producer to watch out for.

Campbell Mattinson

Campbell Mattinson

The Wine Front 95 Points

Gorgeous wine. Plenty up its sleeve but ready to be consumed now too, should you wish. I wished. Herbs, undergrowth, boysenberry, red and black cherry, a graphite note, a gentle meatiness. This is juicy, fine, smoky and impeccably well structured all at once. Tannin is like a tickle in the dark; you’re not sure where it came from but you’re sure aware of its presence. Can’t fault this. It’s exquisite.

Marcus Ellis

Marcus Ellis

Halliday Wine Companion 96 Points

From the top block of bush vines on the Wait vineyard in Blewitt Springs, with vines back to the mid-1940s. These single-site grenache bottlings are quite different to the '23s, and that’s no surprise given the relatively warmer year, with a reflection of greater ripeness in the stems, or that’s how it seems. It’s brooding in a way, but also refined. Amaro herbs, preserved sour cherry, white pepper, a bastourma-like cured meat note, lingonberry, goji, dusky rose and a crackle of spice. This was picked on the earlier side, based on the final alcohol, giving a pleasing verve and linearity, though the fruit is impeccably ripe, and the site reflection bell clear. Excellent.

appearance

Deeply coloured with an intense ruby hue.
aroma

Savoury aromatics of turned earth, root vegetable, and dark cherry are subtle but have great depth.
palate

The palate is firm with a very savoury and slightly saline edge. Tannin is the most prominent of the three SV wines, it comes in waves and carries the savoury edge of the wine across the palate with great length. This wine will stand up to a rich food pairing and will benefit with time in the cellar.
winemakers comments

Part of our premium SV Grenache range, the fruit used to make this wine is sourced from a single vineyard in the northeast corner of the Blewitt Springs area of McLaren Vale owned by the Wait family. Often the most structural and savoury wine in the range, brooding in character with earth and briary characters dominating the palate.
food matching

Redolent with a sausage and thyme ragu.
cellaring potential

Enjoy now and will continue to evolve through to 2034.
vinification

The fruit was hand-picked on the 6th March and processed as a 100% whole bunch ferment. After a slow and cool ferment, the fruit was pressed to large format neutral French oak where it remained on full lees until racking for bottling in May 2025.

Price Bracket $51 to $100
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Grenache
Country Australia
Region McLaren Vale
Australian State SA
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Front
The Wine Advocate
Critic Score 96
Alcohol 13%
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure DIAM Cork

Aphelion

Aphelion was established by Rob Mack and Louise Rhodes with a clear vision. They had one thing on their mind, to craft: "Genuine, Authentic, Quality McLaren Vale Grenache."

A couple of vintages in and they are right on the money. They have close relationships with local growers in the Vale who provide them with excellent Grenache fruit and Rob's deft touch in the winery takes care of the rest.

The range is slowly growing, as is their family. Their investigation into their pet variety is deepening, as is their fan base. The small batches of wine that come out of the Aphelion stable should have a close eye kept on them, more often than not there's something exciting and great value in the bottle.

Winemaker Rob Mack Aphelion

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