JAMES SUCKLING 94 POINTS
- "The 2022 vintage was a Euro-styled year of poise with plenty of fruit weight and immense freshness... Savory. I'll take that over obvious sweetness any day... A sub-regional blend limited to old, dry-grown bush vines. Varying degrees of whole bunches. A number of picking windows, too, to embellish freshness and enough weight. Ambient fermentation. One would be hard-pressed to find a better wine than this for the price. Kirsch, ume, cranberry, bergamot... pixelated tannin, sandy of feel, directing length. Drink or hold. Screw cap." - Ned Goodwin MW
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS - "This is a super little wine. The 2022 Thorny Devil Grenache is spicy, supple and shaped, as all the Thistledown Grenaches are, by ductile, flowing tannins in the mouth. This has shape and form, but it is also a plump, cushioned little number that gives all manner of pleasure. It's a generous, smiling little thing, delicious. There are notes of blood, raspberry, red licorice and ferrous. It is sapid as all get up. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
Thistledown is among the "new guard" for Australian wine, out to show how they can bring delicious ripeness without sacrificing balance in their features and clarity in their aromas. These wines are bold and expressive, like the labels that adorn them!
Founders Giles Cooke, MW and Fergal Tynan, MW started Thistledown in 2010, having met years earlier in their Master of Wine (MW) program. With their deep understanding of wine, they sought to make the "pure and precise" Grenache and Shiraz they knew to be possible in the famous McLaren Vale and the Barossa wine regions. The vineyards they source are older, and their fermentations occur spontaneously; they include some whole clusters, which contribute to some of the savor and spice, as well as that boost in aromatic expressiveness we love. To preserve the integrity of the wines, they don't undergo fining (so they're also vegan).
This has the vibrancy and relative firmness typical of McLaren Vale, which balances out Grenache's tendency toward soft, high-alcohol wines. It comes from classic Grenache farming: old vines that are bush-trained and without irrigation. Aged 10 months in French oak hogsheads.
WINE ADVOCATE 93 POINTS - "This is a super little wine. The 2022 Thorny Devil Grenache is spicy, supple and shaped, as all the Thistledown Grenaches are, by ductile, flowing tannins in the mouth. This has shape and form, but it is also a plump, cushioned little number that gives all manner of pleasure. It's a generous, smiling little thing, delicious. There are notes of blood, raspberry, red licorice and ferrous. It is sapid as all get up. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap."
Thistledown is among the "new guard" for Australian wine, out to show how they can bring delicious ripeness without sacrificing balance in their features and clarity in their aromas. These wines are bold and expressive, like the labels that adorn them!
Founders Giles Cooke, MW and Fergal Tynan, MW started Thistledown in 2010, having met years earlier in their Master of Wine (MW) program. With their deep understanding of wine, they sought to make the "pure and precise" Grenache and Shiraz they knew to be possible in the famous McLaren Vale and the Barossa wine regions. The vineyards they source are older, and their fermentations occur spontaneously; they include some whole clusters, which contribute to some of the savor and spice, as well as that boost in aromatic expressiveness we love. To preserve the integrity of the wines, they don't undergo fining (so they're also vegan).
This has the vibrancy and relative firmness typical of McLaren Vale, which balances out Grenache's tendency toward soft, high-alcohol wines. It comes from classic Grenache farming: old vines that are bush-trained and without irrigation. Aged 10 months in French oak hogsheads.
Overall Rating
0 out of 5 Based on 0 Review
