Thistledown Gorgeous Grenache 2024

For Thistledown, Grenache is very much their favourite child, and this is a good example of how they draw out its elegant side while making something that’s very appealing. Aromatic and lifted on the nose, it leads with wild strawberries and red cherries, backed by gentle spice. Unfiltered, it has a layered, textural feel, and only a small proportion sees old oak, so the fruit stays front and centre, with ripe tannins and a compelling, savoury finish.

Slightly chilled or just cool if you fancy it, this is great with pizza or tomato-based pasta, where the bright red fruit and gentle spice echo the sauce.

Masters of Wine, Giles Cooke and Fergal Tynan founded The Thistledown Wine Company in South Australia's Adelaide Hills in 2010. At their small winery they aim for lithe, energetic wines that illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent, low-intervention winemaking. They share a particular passion for Grenache and they source fruit from the best of the rich patchwork of South Australian vineyards and work in their own inimitable style make wines of subtlety, texture and detail designed to complement rather than overwhelm food. Their small batch, hand-made wines are always full of character.