Thistledown, Thorny Devil Grenache, McLaren Vale, South Australia, Australia, 2023

Producer Profile

Masters of Wine, Giles Cooke & Fergal Tynan, founded Thistledown Wines in 2010 after discovering iconic vineyard sites in the McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills.

They make hand-made, small batch wines that perfectly illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent, minimalist winemaking.

Viticulture

In 2014, the vineyard the fruit came from performed out of its skin and it was while in the vineyard that they came across a little lizardy fellow called a Thorny Devil. They liked the name and the fruit produced beautiful wine and so decided that it was high enough quality to be bottled on its own. Thorny Devil draws on fruit from a number of sub regions of McLaren Vale, all of which are old, dry grown and bush trained. Picking times and ferments vary but the common thread is of picking on the way up.

Winemaking

All ferments are wild with differing percentages of whole bunch, though every ferment has some. Extraction regimes are very light, with the aim of infusion rather than heavy extraction. Once pressed, the wine is stored in seasoned French oak of 300 & 500 litres for approx. 8 months before bottling.

Oak Ageing

Time: 10 Months
Type: Old oak hogsheads
% wine oaked: 100
% new oak: 10

Tasting Note

The wine has the characteristic McLaren Vale perfume and spice with a beguiling texture and perfume that unfolds, layer by layer. This delicately hued red is otherwise very elegant with vibrant wild strawberry, spice and silky texture.

Food Matching

A beautiful match for game meats, North African lamb and charcuterie.

Awards

James Suckling 93 Points
I always enjoy this wine, the entry point to the glories of McLaren Vale grenache, among the world's finest expressions of this variety. Tamarind, red cherries, mint and sap verging on rhubarb. Almost like a Beaujolais, and yet there is plenty of tannic grit. Cranberry, white pepper, clove and dried thyme notes on a long, gentle finish. Delicious. Screw cap. Drink or hold. 93 Points, NG(MW), 2024.
The Wine Front 93 Points
From a selection of old bush vines across McLaren Vale. We don’t know from where, but we trust Giles Cooke MW, Grenache enthusiast, who’s probably over here right now, trailing about somewhere in SA. Cherry, mint, raspberry, something a little steely too, brown spicy and floral. It’s medium-bodied, sappy cherry and coal dust, something a little ozone-like about it (don’t mind me), with plump yet fine grained tannin grip, and a juicy finish of excellent length. Very nice. Fresh. Lively. Gustatory. 93 Points, GW, 2024.
Robert Parker Wine Advocate 92 Points
The 2023 Thorny Devil Grenache is routinely a rip-snorting little wine. Raspberry compote, orange peel, black tea, humbug candies and red licorice frame the bouquet, while on the palate, the wine is plush, luxurious and velvety. It's really good—again! 92 Points, EL, 2024.
Halliday Wine Companion 2025 Special Value 94 Points
'From several districts, off old, dry-grown bush vines. The ferments are all nuanced, but all are wild, and there is always some whole bunch; maturation for eight months in old French oak. Pale in hue and pretty in fragrance, such is the vintage. Flavours skip through cranberry, wild raspberry, pomegranate and rose, with white pepper and cassia, the elevating quality the absence of easy juiciness with no loss of vibrancy. That theme is carried through on the palate, a smartly woven net of tannins ensnaring the fruit, shaping without constricting. 94 Points, ME, August 2024