96 points - "Pale in the glass and engagingly savoury, feeling a little less up-front fruitful than the '23 at the same stage, but certainly no less for it. More, perhaps. This is savoury, with pressed flowers, dried cranberry, damson and macerated cherries, warm stone, whole spices – fennel seed, clove, cardamom – and a little blood orange note, speaking to flavour and zesty, sour-fruited tension. The tannins, chalky, pithy, sandy and purposeful is a real feature, as is the fine seam of acid. It’s a wine built with a light, thoughtful touch, confident, layered and very engaging." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

95 points - "Raspberry, almond and peanut packed milk chocolate, spice and perfume, a subtle nori character too with Japanese ginger tucked in. It’s medium-bodied, red cherry and raspberry, again the almond meal richness, a bright cranberry freshness to acidity, quite some fine sandstone grip to tannin gives it substance and texture, spiced blood orange rolls on a crisp finish of excellent length. A super Grenache, though it’s quite firm and structured, so give it another year or two, I’d say." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Single vineyard Grenache, fruit sourced from ‘The Marmont Vineyard’ Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale grown by the Cross family.

Dry Grown on Holocene Sand, East/West aspect, 140-145m altitude. Planted in 1960.

A chance encounter, a block we had never worked with until we started Paralian, but knew through reputation. Based in one of the oldest parts of McLaren Vale. Blewitt Springs sub-region. 2023 is our seventh release of this single vineyard wine.

Hand-picked fruit, wild-fermented in a 136-year-old wax lined concrete open fermenter, 20% whole bunch, remainder of fruit destemmed whole berry on top. Gentle cap management with daily hand plunges with the occasional pump over during the peak of ferment over a period of 16-days on skins. Whole bunches were hand squeezed at zero Baume to release the beautiful aromatic carbonic ferment characters back into the wine. Wine was matured on lees for 10 months in a 17 year old 2500L French oak foudre.

On initial opening the 2024 Marmont is remarkably wound up. This needs time. Purity of site and variety is apparent but a brooding darkness is carried with lovely refinement. Ripe raspberry and white chocolate aromas with alluring cinnamon bark and blood orange acidity. Palate weight is elevated with a swathe of primary fruits – raspberries heading into black and blue fruits. The tannins, long and fine, drive through the wine giving the luscious fruit ample support. A wine for enjoyment with decanting early or if willing patience in the cellar will be rewarding.