Thistledown The Vagabond Old Vine Grenache 2019
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James
Suckling -
Wine
Spectator -
Wine &
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Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
This wine possesses a beautifully complex, aromatic nose of violets, wild cherry, rosemary and warming spice. The palate is energetic yet polished and smooth with vibrant cherry, spice, wild strawberry and licorice on the palate. Medium bodied but multilayered and textural with a very long, aromatic finish.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
This showcases the power of Blewitt Springs in a very boldly stated, fruit-driven expression of grenache with real purpose. The aromas are of redcurrants, raspberries, pomegranate and blood oranges and lead to a palate with a phenomenal drive of acidity and tannin. Such intense and defined style here. Drink or hold.
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Wine Spectator
Aromatic and detailed, this red offers juicy maraschino cherry, blood orange, pomegranate, clove, green tea, cedar, lavender and fresh loamy notes that are precise and elegant, followed by a long, expressive finish. Drink now through 2031.
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Wine & Spirits
This grows at several parcels in Blewitt Springs, all dry farmed bush vines, all planted on sand over ironstone. This wine fermented spontaneously in two portions: Two thirds of it was left alone in concrete, in layers of whole bunches and crushed fruit. The rest was hand plunged in an open-top fermenter. Whatever that might bring to the wine, it’s pretty delicious, the Blewitt Springs sands delivering a beautifully fresh grenache in layers of red fruit—currant, strawberry, cranberry and red-apple skin. The airy, super mineral tannins bring some dark green-olive tones.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Herbal and almost tea-like, with an undercurrent of cherries and cranberries, Thistledown's 2019 The Vagabond Old Vine Grenache is a taut rendering of Grenache, marked by a medium to full-bodied palate, silky but pronounced tannins and a tart, almost puckering finish. Give it another year or two to settle down, then drink it over the following 6–7 years.
Other Vintages
2021-
Robert
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Australian Wine
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James
Suckling
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James
Suckling -
Australian Wine
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Wine
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Robert
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James
Suckling
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Australian Wine
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Robert
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An Englishman, an Irishman and an Australian of German descent..... at home in the Adelaide Hills, Thistledown make super premium wines from the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, Adelaide Hills and Langhorne Creek regions of South Australia.
Drawing on strong Celtic links, the thistle provides an apt image for a producer that, for all the rugged exterior, makes wines that possess a delicacy, subtlety and beauty that counters the notion that bigger always equals better. Thistledown works directly with growers in the premium regions of South Australia to source fruit that has the potential to communicate its origins precisely while delivering polished, balanced, delicious wines of great personality.
Established since 2010,Thistledown is developing a focus on individual terroir expressions of Grenache and Syrah - a passion borne of our love for the wines of Southern France and Spain.
Whether it's the deep, ironstone rich terra rossa of Marananga in the Barossa or the delightfully light, deep sands of Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale, we look to reflect the terroir by picking for optimal balance rather than power and by winemaking that is, wherever possible, hands off.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.