Description
South Australian Grenache may prove to be our most important red wine style over the coming years, and these are the producers who are leading the way.
This is a selection of the finest Grenache wines in Australia from six masters of the variety. Three wines from McLaren Vale, three from the Barossa - this is a benchmark set of wines perfect for any collector.
- 2023 Yangarra High Sands Grenache
- 2023 S.C. Pannell Little Branch Grenache
- 2025 Thistledown Sands of Time Grenache
- 2024 Vanguardist V Grenache
- 2019 Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Vine Grenache
- 2023 Head Ancestor Vine Grenache
2023 Yangarra High Sands Grenache
The pinnacle of Yangarra’s Grenache journey - and quite simply one of Australia’s great red wines.
Sourced from dry-grown bush vines planted in 1946 at the highest point of the estate, the High Sands Grenache is the purest expression of Yangarra’s biodynamic vineyard and Peter Fraser’s detail-obsessed, hands-off approach. In 2023, the cooler season has dialled up the elegance and restraint, with delicate whole-berry ferments (no pressings used) and a long maceration to tease out depth without sacrificing finesse.
It’s a wine of remarkable poise - lifted, fragrant and fine with layers of red cherry, wild herbs, dusty spice and a stony, savoury thread that runs long and precise through the finish. Partly matured in Austrian puncheons and ceramic eggs, it’s a wine that respects its fruit and speaks effortlessly of its place.
Grenache doesn’t get more articulate than this. If you want to understand the heights Australian Grenache can reach, this is the benchmark.
98 points
"A very different High Sands… coiled at this stage, but the fruit has flex and will bloom with time in bottle, radiating out from the core of mineral-feeling tannin and skein of vigorous acidity."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
98 points
"Vibrant ruby and purple… a wine of juxtaposition, carrying a lightness of being that belies its power and intensity."
- Stuart Knox (The Real Review)
Read More98 points
"Grenache in its purest and most deliciously appealing form. A benchmark for the variety, from the highest part of the ’46 planted bush vines."
- Ray Jordan (Wine Pilot)
2023 S.C. Pannell Little Branch Grenache
Little Branch has fast become one of the most exciting new Grenache projects in Australia. The fruit comes off Steve Pannell’s own Blewitt Springs vineyard, a site he hunted for years before finally finding it in 2021 – a small block of 30-year-old vines rooted in ancient Maslin Sands and ironstone, sitting high and exposed above McLaren Vale. It’s classic Blewitt Springs terrain, and in Steve’s hands, the results are extraordinary.
The 2023 vintage was long and cool, allowing a slow build of flavour and fine natural acidity. The winemaking is typically understated: hand-picked fruit, 14% whole bunches, wild ferment in steel, then old French oak to settle. No fining, no shortcuts, just pure expression.
The wine is fragrant and precise, all red fruit, rose petal and spice with that sandy, mineral tannin line that defines the site. It’s effortlessly balanced – bright, textured and quietly intense, sitting in that rare sweet spot between elegance and power. Collectible, yes, but it’s almost too good not to open.
Read More97 points
"...the explosive perfume on the palate utterly compelling, the finish relentless. Stunning."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
2025 Thistledown Sands of Time Grenache
From a single 75 year-old vineyard in Blewitt Springs, this wine perfectly encapsulates why this sub-region of McLaren Vale is producing some of the best Grenache wines in Australia today.
There is real purity and power here. Highly aromatic with florals, spice, and dried citrus, it follows through to a palate that is both elegant and vibrant yet intensely concentrated. So smooth, with sweet berries, alongside more spice, and a hint of smoke.
This is the big-gun, and without a doubt, the showcase wine for Thistledown; so eminently drinkable, and beautiful. Really, this is a love letter to Grenache.
Read More97 points
"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... It’s a fine trajectory, and another superb release."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
2024 Vanguardist V Grenache
Vanguardist is at the forefront of the new-wave Grenache movement in McLaren Vale. Michael Corbett has spent the last decade focused on a single site - the Rende vineyard in Blewitt Springs - and his 'V' Grenache is now rightfully considered a benchmark for the region. This isn't your typical jammy Vale red; it’s about precision, detail, and showing off the distinct sandy terroir of Blewitt Springs.
The 2024 vintage marks the tenth release of this wine. It was a season of extremes, starting with a wet spring before a February heatwave tightened the harvest window. Corbett hand-picked the 55-year-old bush vines in three stages to maintain balance. Two-thirds of the fruit was fermented as whole bunches for five weeks, then tucked away for 17 months in large 2200L Slavonian oak foudres. That extra time in old wood through a second winter is what gives the wine its seamless cohesion.
It’s an elegant, highly aromatic Grenache, leading with lifted red berries, wild herbs, and a distinctive mineral edge. The palate is vibrant and deep, framed by fine-grained, silky tannins and a bright acidity that keeps everything focused. It has classic Blewitt Springs lacy texture but with serious underlying power. It’s drinking beautifully now but has the structure to evolve over the next decade.
97+ points
"The Vanguardist calling card, the defining wine. Deeply savoury and intense, layered, detailed, chiselled, seriously complex... It’s a wine that is so captivating on the nose… Another beautifully beguiling world-class grenache from Mr Corbett. Bravo."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)
97 points
"The 2024 Grenache is perfumed and aromatic, leading with saturated rose petals, pomegranate, raspberry and licorice... This is a satiating, layered rendition of Vanguardist Grenache, and the highlight is the tannins."
- Erin Larkin (The Wine Advocate)
96 pointsRead More
"Wonderful finesse and perfume here. Give it a couple more years to come up."
- Gary Walsh (The Wine Front)
2019 Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Vine Grenache
The 2019 Cirillo 1850 Ancestor Vine Grenache is a piece of living history, crafted from what is believed to be the world’s oldest Grenache vineyard.
Planted in 1850 in the Light Pass area of the Barossa Valley, these ancient, gnarled vines have been lovingly tended by the Cirillo family for over 50 years, producing wines that are as timeless as they are extraordinary.
Winemaker Marco Cirillo brings a modern touch to his family’s heritage, crafting this Grenache with a focus on purity and balance. The fruit is picked earlier to capture freshness, yet the wine retains the depth and power that comes naturally from vines over 170 years old. Matured in seasoned hogsheads, Marco prioritises the expression of the variety and vineyard over oak influence.
It's a special wine, no doubt about it. A rarity in all the world to have a wine made from vines this old. A great year for this great site and Marco in career best form. It's a winning combination.
Read More99+ points
"This stunning young 2019 Grenache Ancestor vine, from the country’s oldest vines for this variety delivers an almost perfect mix of pristine primary dark cherry and red licorice aromas lifted by layers of mountain herbs, red earth and meat spices with genuine concentration and focus. Young, compact and still a little shy, it has all the pieces in place with energetic flavours, beautiful composure and refinement yet with a firm base of gravelly tannins before gliding to a pristine finish of astounding length. With the perfume of the 2017 vintage combined with the density of tannins from a year marked by long periods of dry, warm to hot conditions, this is as good as Barossa Grenache gets and may achieve perfection in time."
- Angus Hughson (Wine Pilot)
2023 Head Ancestor Vine Grenache
In this Ancestor Vine Grenache, you can see Alex Head's winemaking passion and philosophy distilled into a single bottle. From an ancient vineyard in Springton in the Eden Valley, these warhorse vines planted in 1858 yield fruit of dazzling concentration and complexity. In the hands of Alex, the fruit sings.
The 2023 vintage was a cooler, late-ripening run that played perfectly into Alex's hands. He kept things minimalist in the shed, using whole bunches during the wild ferment and old oak casks to ensure the wood stayed completely out of the picture.
This isn't your typical sweet, confectionary Barossa Grenache. It is a pale, translucent red that is savory to its core, packed with wild briar fruits, dried orange peel bitter edges, and a dusty, dark earthiness. The tannin web is exceptionally fine but firm, giving it an incredible line and length.
From a man who's made a name for himself as one of the country's great Grenache makers, this sits right up the top of the tree. Extremely limited.
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