Description
Thistledown made its name with old-vine Grenache - it was Halliday's Grenache of the Year in 2022, 2025 and 2026 - but Giles Cooke MW has a sneaky soft spot for McLaren Vale Shiraz, and The Cunning Plan is his best value offering. The 2024 is a seriously good-value red with a lot more polish than its price suggests.
The fruit comes from the Moray Park vineyard in McLaren Flat, a low-yielding site on ironstone, limestone and clay, planted around the turn of the century. Winemaking's kept simple. The grapes are destemmed with as many whole berries kept intact as possible, wild fermented, then matured in French oak with only 10% new, so the wood stays in the background.
It's all about ripe plum and blackberry, a good dose of that peppery, star anise spice the Vale does so well, and a lick of wild herbs. It's a touch lighter on its feet than you might expect, with juicy fruit and fine, velvety tannins that hold it together without any heaviness. Classic McLaren Vale Shiraz from a class producer, and fine value again.
93 points
"There’s the classic ease to this, tannins cradling rather than constricting fruit. Fine value, as always."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
92 points
"That exotic sway of pan-fried spices that McLaren Vale so excels in... This is very good."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)
Customer Reviews
| Price Bracket | $30 or Less |
| Type | Red |
| Body | Full Bodied |
| Variety | Shiraz |
| Country | Australia |
| Region | McLaren Vale |
| Australian State | SA |
| Feature |
Vegan |
| Reviewed By |
Halliday Wine Companion The Wine Advocate |
| Critic Score |
93 |
| Alcohol | 14% |
| Size | 750ml |
| Vintage | 2024 |
| Closure | Screw Cap |
Thistledown
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Common Questions
Delivery is free on orders of $199 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.
No sorry we do not have a store front and pickup is not available.
Yes, no problem. When placing your order select ‘Store at Different Drop and Delivery Later’ as your shipping method or reply to the order confirmation email after placing your order with additional instructions.
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.
Our warehouse is automated so unless you tell us otherwise, we will ship your order. If you would like us to hold your order please reply to the order confirmation email after placing your order and we are happy to store your order for up to 6 months at no charge. You can review our heat policy here.
Yes, of course. We want Different Drop customers to always be getting the best price. You can see our price match policy here.
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.
No, all prices are set at the full discounted dozen rate already.
Most wine retailers list at a single-bottle price and then discount 10–15% when you buy six or twelve. We've taken the opposite approach. Since the overwhelming majority of our orders are already 6 bottles or more, our list price is set for the case buyer from the start. There's no inflated single-bottle price to discount down from.
What that means for you:
- One price, same for everyone — no minimum to hit to unlock the best rate
- No mixed-six gymnastics to qualify for a discount
- Our single-bottle price is typically at or below a traditional retailer's by-the-dozen rate
Put simply: the box discount is already baked into the price.
**And if you find it cheaper elsewhere?** Let us know. If the same wine is available at a lower price at another retailer (including at their mixed-six or by-the-dozen rate) we're happy to match it.
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.
Need a hand?
We’d love to help you out! Email is usually best but if it’s something urgent or you just really want to have a yarn about wine, food, or even the meaning of life, give us a call — we’re here for you.