Editors notes
Joel Mattschoss' Menglers Hill site is an outstanding, forward thinking vineyard and we've been more than impressed by the results so far. This unique release offers a hint of the cooler side of Thistledown's Barossa Grenache. 445 metres above sea level, this hillside vineyard is spectacular, consistently producing well balanced, concentrated fruit from its meagre soils. We retained 25% whole bunches. These were placed on the floor of a concrete egg and then gently crushed fruit placed on top. Spontaneous fermentation with no mechanical extraction. Left on skins for 3 days before being pressed and transferred to 300 litre French hogsheads, of which 30% were new A near perfect growing season resulted in beautifully balanced, intense yet aromatic and elegant wine.
Details
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Wine Type
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Light (Light)Full (Full)
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Low Tannin (Low Tannin)Tannic (Tannic)
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Low Acidity (Low Acidity)High Acidity (High Acidity)
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Aroma
- Black Cherry
- Savoury
- Strawberry
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Palate
- Earthy
- Red Cherry
- Strawberry
Food Pairings
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Red Meat
Critic Scores & reviews
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James Halliday's Wine Companion
97"An amalgam of quartz, sandy loams and ironstone soils; young dry-grown vines, propitiously sited at 550m and articulated across a wild yeast fermentation, incorporating 22% whole-bunch. And versed winemaking nouse. Only 720 bottles made, this is exceptional. Up there with the very finest that this country crafts. Kirsch, sandalwood, pomegranate, wood smoke, clove and the rasp of real tannic mettle. This flows long, with an attractive brittle weave for savouriness and the next glass. The alcohol sits right for this late ripener."
Other vintages
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Locations
Australia
Australia's wine industry is a thriving part of the country's economy, contributing significantly to employment, production, export, and tourism. In fact, the industry is the fourth-largest wine exporter in the world, shipping out 760 million liters of wine to countries including France, Italy, Spain, and the UK. One of the key factors contributing to Australia's success as a "New World" wine producer is the formal export and marketing of its wines through Wine Australia.
Australia's wine regions are scattered across the south and southeast, with almost every state boasting its own vineyards. Victoria, for example, is home to an impressive 21 wine regions. Some of the most famous wine regions in Australia include Margaret River, Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Eden Valley, Clare Valley, Hunter Valley, Yarra Valley, and local regions to New South Wales such as Cowra, Southern Highlands, and Mudgee.
Australian winemakers are known for producing a diverse range of grape varieties, with Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon, Chardonnay, Sauvignon Blanc, and Pinot Noir being among the most popular. They tend to focus on producing wines that are ripe, fruit-forward, and easy to drink, using modern winemaking techniques and equipment such as stainless steel tanks and temperature-controlled fermentation.
With its bold, fruit-driven flavors and reputation for quality and diversity, Australian wine has become a popular choice for wine lovers around the world. And with such a broad range of wine regions and grape varieties, there's something for every palate to enjoy.
South Australia
If you like Australian wine, then you probably like South Australia wine. The rich reds produced there put Australia on the wine-making map of the world. With over 40% of the country's vineyards, South Australia can rightfully call itself the wine state.
Wines are produced in several regions throughout the state, though many are naturally grouped together, like Barossa and Eden Valleys, only 15 minutes apart. They include such regions as Barossa Valley, Clare Valley, Eden Valley, Coonawarra, Adelaide Hills, Kangaroo Island, Langhorne Creek, The Limestone Coast, McLaren Vale and Wrattonbully to name but a few!
Barossa Valley boasts some of the oldest vines in Australia dating back to 1843 and produces some of the world's finest Shiraz, whilst the 'terra rossa' soils of Coonawarra is most suited to producing outstanding Cabernet Sauvignons. If you're a fan of Riesling, Clare Valley is a great place to explore and for a Maritime climate not dissimilar to parts of the Italian coastline, seek out the wines from McLaren Vale.
Eden Valley
Eden Valley is a cool climate wine region between 400 and 600m up the Barossa range, to the east of the warmer Barossa Valley. It is of a similar size to Barossa Valley, but given the altitude and cooler climate, Eden Valley is reknowned for producing high quality Riesling and Shiraz. Due to its cool climate, small portions of cooler Eden Valley fruit are often blended with 'sister' wines from the Barossa Valley.
The cooler climate provides optimum conditions for long, slow ripening of the grapes, which generally retain acidity and developing complex flavours on the vine. The townships sub regions include Keyneton in the east, Truro in the north and Mt Pleasant in the south and High Eden, located even higher up the Barossa Ranges, with even cooler temperatures.
The soils of the region is generally nutrient poor yellow podzolic/sandy & pink quartz soils over decomposed (gneiss) granite. With its rocky outcrop, which extends to the soild, most irrigation is provided by dams, and most vineyards plant their vines close together. When compared to Clare Valley, Eden Valley is slightly higher in altitude and a little cooler, though has similar sunshine hours, but lower levels of continentality.
About the brand Thistledown
From our base in the idyllic Adelaide Hills, we work with pristine fruit sourced from iconic vineyard sites. Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW, with the helping hand of Peter Leske, hand-make small-batch wines that illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent winemaking.
The unique blend of superb fruit sources and experience in both the New and the Old Worlds helps craft a wine of subtlety, texture and detail – wines perfectly suited to complement rather than overwhelm fine food.
We love hand-making delicious, joyful wines – all sourced from amazing vineyard sites in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale and Adelaide Hills. It's no secret that our real love is Grenache! We make small-batch, hand-made wines from sites that we believe are special. We pick fruit on the way up rather than the way down so that we can do as little as possible to make the best wine. We're slowly gathering the very best selection of Grenache sites in Australia.
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