97 points - "From the 1952-planted Trott vineyard, which was sold in '26, although the source will likely be a constant for Thistledown. Like the Smart vineyard bottling, this has a distinct imprint of site, and with a super-gentle touch, where ferments (30% whole bunch layered in concrete) are not worked, just managed; the transparency of making is a magnifying glass on place. Darker red fruits, as usual, more earthy, with some black spice notes and bergamot tea. Red and black cherry, rosehip, quite floral, if subdued, reds and blues. This seems more refined each year, even in what was a warm and dry year. It’s a fine trajectory, and another superb release." - Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

97 points - "Very bright, deep and glowing purple in the glass. Aromas of fivespice, dark morello cherry and earthy broken rock, some star anise peeping through. The wine is full bodied and firm, with an emphatic beginning and finish, the latter loaded with drying, mouth-coating tannins that add great authority to the wine and promise long ageing. There's a fabulous core of juicy liqueur cherry and spice, again that insistent note of star anise, the tannins enveloping it all with a warming hug. Very smart grenache indeed." - Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

87 points - "Dark fruited, cherry and forest berry compote, mocha notes, including a bit of coffee ground tannin profile, choc-mint, some lemon-orange acidity making waves and a bit of salted liquorice and a touch of ferrous, iron filing character. Licks of nuttiness set underneath. There’s a sense of freshness here, perking things up, but also leading the wine into a slightly shrill zone in terms of balance of fruit and spice, a sour note to acidity. It’s curious in that there’s prime drinkability, but also a slightly peaky, acid adjunct note being distracting. It feels a bit discombobulated and not quite harmonious now." - Mike Bennie (The Wine Front)

87 points - "Cherry, mint, chocolate, dried herbs and orange zest. It’s fuller in body, sour cherry and blackberry, quite some zip to acidity, shows some warmth, praline, with a tangy finish of modest length. This is quite rugged and somewhat awkward, tannin is sandy and not quite ripe, and it feels warm and diffuse. A hard and dry year shows its hand." - Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)

Early on in our Grenache journey, we were introduced to Sue Trott’s Home Block in the Blewitt Springs sub-region of McLaren Vale. It’s beautiful aspect, raised elevation and free-draining deep sandy soils are the perfect spot for dry-grown bush-vine Grenache and we were so lucky to be offered the opportunity to purchase a little fruit. Some years on and we have learned a little about the site and refined our picking decisions and vinification to the extent that from 2017 we were content that we could do the site justice by bottling separately.

We have now worked with this vineyard for 14 years and this wine has won the country's top accolades and demonstrates that McLaren Vale Grenache is world class.

From 2024 this wine carries the Sustainable Winegrowing Australia Trust Mark.

Tasting
A faithful expression of the site – beautiful, haunting aromatics, fine sandy tannins and wonderful, memorable length on the palate.

Only 3000 Bottles & 54 Magnums produced.

Suitable for vegetarians & vegans.

Viticulture & Winemaking
Sourced from one vineyard, planted in 1952, with bush trained vines on pure sand yielding a wine of immense purity and power that is both light and intense at the same time.

Hand-picked, on the way up, we vinify naturally in concrete and place whole bunches alternately with de-stemmed fruit to create a layer cake. A very gentle, slow fermentation is followed by maturation in oak and concrete before a careful selection is done, which is then bottled unfined and unfiltered 10 months later.