2024 Willunga 100 Grenache
2024 Willunga 100 Grenache

2024 Willunga 100 Grenache

96 pts NICK RYAN TOP 100
Willunga 100 |McLaren Vale |Grenache
Superb value McLaren Vale Grenache from a producer massively on the up and up.
3.5
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
2 Reviews
Price:
$29.00
Stock:
In stock, ready to ship
Rendering loop-subscriptions

Description

Willunga 100 is Grenache, start to finish. It’s the grape they’ve built their name on, and this estate-grown release is the clearest window into what they do best.

The 2023 vintage of this wine shocked the industry by picking up three trophies - including the Prime Minister’s Trophy for Best Wine of Show at the National Wine Show - an unheard-of result for a $28 Grenache. The 2024 follows in those footsteps with the same focus on purity, drinkability and site expression, showing why Willunga 100 has become the benchmark for McLaren Vale Grenache.

Sourced from their Blind Spot vineyard in Blewitt Springs - a site of dry-grown bush vines on deep Maslin sands - it captures everything we love about the variety in this part of the Vale. Bright red fruits, a little pomegranate crunch, lavender and thyme, and a savoury undertow of spice and earth. The palate is medium bodied and vibrant, with silky tannins giving shape and a mineral thread pulling it long.

Winemaking is deliberately simple – hand-picked fruit, a touch of whole bunch, basket pressing, and ageing mostly in old puncheons – all about letting vineyard and variety do the talking.

At this price, and with this pedigree, it’s one of the best buys in Australian red wine right now.

96 points
"If you’re at all curious why Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale is the most hyped dirt in Australian wine right now, here’s the perfect entry point for imminent addiction."
- Nick Ryan (Top 100 Wines of 2025)<

"Bright and tasty. Varietal and good value too. Boxes are being ticked here."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
Gary Walsh

Gary Walsh

The Wine Front 93 Points

Black cherry and raspberry, a smattering of aromatic herbs and mint, some dark spice, a slight choc-hazelnut thing here too. It’s medium-bodied, a mixed of red and black fruit, a crisp subtle orange tang to acidity, pumice stone tannin grip with a cool spicy finish of good length. Bright and tasty. Varietal and good value too. Boxes are being ticked here.

Marcus Ellis

Marcus Ellis

Halliday Wine Companion 93 Points

From 50-year-old vines on the estate Blindspot vineyard, Blewitt Springs. A brilliant garnet in the glass, this is delightfully pure of feel, though with a little more generosity, a lower-gear drive than the single sites. There are some darker fruits, a violet note, iodine, iron, a rounding out of flavour from older oak maturation (70%). There’s drive and tension, too. Redcurrant gel, black cherry, dried hardy herbs, a little anise, with a savouriness to flavour and structure. It’s a fine introduction to the Willunga 100 grenache mission.

Erin Larkin

Erin Larkin

The Wine Advocate 92 Points

The 2023 Grenache won Champion Wine of Show at the National Wine Show in Canberra in 2025, making headlines in its success as the first Grenache crowned with this glory in the show's history. As a judge at that show this year, the wine was among a class of Grenache wines that showed the strength and detail inherent in the best Grenaches in the country, and on the day, the 2023 Grenache was deemed the best of those that were entered. Aromatically, the 2024 Grenache leads with cherry, raspberry and red apple, with a slew of pure berry fruits through the middle palate and finish. The wine is fresh and juicy, with fine tannins from the 50+ year old bush vines in the Blind Corner vineyard in McLaren Vale from which the fruit was sourced. The 2024 season was warmer and drier than 2023, which produced the winning wine, and generally, the character of the 2024s is more aligned with 2022 than the cool wet season in the middle. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.

Nick Ryan

Nick Ryan

The Weekend Australian 96 Points

If you’re at all curious why Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale is the most hyped dirt in Australian wine right now, here’s the perfect entry point for imminent addiction. A worthy successor to the all-conquering 2023 vintage, it comes from 50-year-old bush vines dry grown in the sub-region’s defining sand. There’s a distinctive lift to the aromatics – abundant red berries, rubbed rosemary, a pinch of pomegranate too – but it’s the micro-fine tannin structure that really stamps its class.

Customer Reviews

3.5
Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars
Based on 2 reviews
Total 5 star reviews: 0 Total 4 star reviews: 1 Total 3 star reviews: 1 Total 2 star reviews: 0 Total 1 star reviews: 0
2 reviews
  • NW
    Ned W.
    Verified Buyer
    20 hours ago
    Rated 4 out of 5 stars
    Fantastic

    Bright red fruited

    Interesting bit of spice

    Great alone & paired really well with Pork belly Bao

    Unreal value for money

    Was this helpful?
  • BH
    Brett H.
    Verified Buyer
    2 months ago
    Rated 3 out of 5 stars
    Tasting the2024 Willunga 100 Grenache

    Nice Grenache but it needs a little more time to settle down as being a 2024 wine.

    Was this helpful?

TASTING NOTE

Bright red berry and pomegranate fruit aromas, along with flowering herbs- lavender and thyme. Medium bodied with vibrancy on the palate, the wine has flavours of red and dark cherries, and a savoury backbone of earthy spice and minerals. Finishing with lingering flavours that are supported by sinewy, yet fine tannins.

VINEYARD

Sourced from Willunga 100's own estate vineyard 'Blind Spot' in the sub-region of Blewitt Springs (McLaren Vale). 100% dry grown bush vine Grenache from three different sections of the vineyard, each with a slightly different aspect/elevation. Vine age is approximately 50 years old. The soils of the vineyard are deep Maslin sand over a base of ironstone and clay.

VINTAGE

The season started with a dry winter and start to spring- warm days and quite cool nights meant a slow start to shoot growth, and smaller crops in some early flowering varieties, but in mid-November the weather pattern changed to give us a lot of rain and some humidity, which helped with shoot growth and to improve crop levels, but was challenging in the vineyards to keep disease under control. In early January the rain stopped thankfully, and we had dry conditions right the way through harvest, so disease was much less of an issue than it could have been. A few short heat waves provided some challenges, but generally the wine quality is very good.

WINEMAKING

Five parcels were selected across the 3 blocks, and from were hand harvested and vinified separately. The wines were fermented in stainless steel open fermenters. Some of the parcels were fermented with some whole bunch (equalling approx. 13% whole bunch across the blended wine). Each parcel spent between 8-12 days on skins then was gently basket pressed. 70% of the wine was transferred to aged French oak puncheons post primary fermentation to undergo malolactic fermentation, the balance remained in stainless steel. The wine remained on malo lees for 10 months before being racked and blended prior to bottling.

WINEMAKER: Renae Hirsch

Price Bracket $30 or Less
Type Red
Body Medium Bodied
Variety Grenache
Country Australia
Region McLaren Vale
Australian State SA
Feature Women in Wine
Reviewed By Halliday Wine Companion
The Wine Front
Critic Score 93
Size 750ml
Vintage 2024
Closure Screw Cap

Others also liked

Recently viewed

Common Questions

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.

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.

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! Most questions can be sorted quickly through our Help Centre or by dropping us a line on chat or email. 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.

Regular Enquiries

hello@differentdrop.com

Urgent Enquiries

02 8376 8775