Thistledown Thorny Devil Grenache 2013
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Wine &
Spirits -
Wine
Spectator -
Robert
Parker
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
A beautiful match for game meats, North African lamb and charcuterie.
Professional Ratings
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Wine & Spirits
Two MWs—Giles Cooke and Fergal Tynan—founded this Adelaide Hills winery in 2010, joining forces with winemaker Peter Leske of Revenir. This is their first vintage of Thorny Devil, from an old-vine, dry-grown vineyard in Barossa, which they ferment as mostly whole berries without added yeast, then age in old oak barrels. It’s a wine with serious structure, the tarry tannins carrying fresh cherry and cranberry flavors without any sense of excess alcohol. There’s old-vine complexity in the finish, which lasts, clean and savory.
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Wine Spectator
Vivid and juicy, offering a mouthful of currant, dried cherry and red raspberry flavors that are bold and bright, with a hint of orange peel and black tea on the finish. Drink now through 2022.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
Pale garnet with a hint of purple, the 2013 Thorny Devil Grenache offers a tantalizing nose of kirsch, red plum preserves and raspberry coulis with nuances of baking spices and lavender. Unashamedly full, rich and packed with red berry and spice flavors, it has lovely silky tannins and great freshness throughout the long finish.
Other Vintages
2021-
Robert
Parker -
Australian Wine
Companion -
Wine
Enthusiast -
James
Suckling
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James
Suckling
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James
Suckling
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Wine
Enthusiast
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James
Suckling
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.
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.