2022 Ministry of Clouds Kintsugi, McLaren Vale

This is a peripatetic cuvée, not relying on varietal composition, other than being Southern Rhône-themed. In '22, it’s grenache essentially, from Blewitt Springs (67%) and Clarendon (33%), with only 4% estate shiraz.; 56% whole bunch; old oak maturation. Unlike the other grenache from this address, this is brooding, moody and somewhat powerful. It’s not overpitched, just noticeably different, though the signature lightness of touch, absence of obvious oak notes and relative transparency prevail. Cherry compote, soused wild raspberry, black cherry juice, blueberry danish, the palate fuller, tannins both lineal and sandy. The quality is there, if it feels a little outside the house style – if that matters. Drink to 2034.

95+ points Marcus Ellis for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

The 2022 Kintsugi Grenache comprises 96% Grenache from three vineyards in McLaren Vale (two in Blewitt Springs and the Smart vineyard in Clarendon), and the balance is Shiraz from the estate block—there is no Mourvèdre or Carignan this year, although the cépage changes each year. It is the best parcels put together rather than a wine made to "recipe." The wine is darker and more intense than the other Grenache wines tasted here today. Whether that is a function of the vintage (there is density in the 2022s—long hang time, very cool, great natural acid, full physiological ripeness) or the cépage this year is yet to be determined. The wine is savory and long, peppered with dark berry fruits, exotic spice and even meaty inflections. Powerful and structural, the tannins are not derived from the oak élevage, rather these are vineyard- and skin-derived and show the great capacity of this variety to be adaptable to site and treatment. This is a wonderful wine here.

95+ points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate

A contrasting wine to the other Ministry grenaches; very ripe and shows more oak, tannin and oomph, with more savoury aromas of black pepper and ironstone, now including some tertiary complexity after three+ years ageing. A bigger, gutsier wine which seems more shirazzy, although there's only a tiny proportion of shiraz in it. Abundant gritty tannins to finish, and it hides its alcohol well. (96% grenache, 4% shiraz).

94 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, November 2025

This is a powerful, symphonic wine with lifted, spicy aromatics leading to dark, intense flavours. It deserved food with serious flavor intensity, gelatinous richness, or charred umami depth to match its muscles. Try with a wild boar ragù over pappardelle, or a Catalan Estofat de Bou: slow-braised beef cheek finished with dark chocolate, almond and garlic picada.

More about this wine

Kintsugi is the ancient Japanese art of creating enduring beauty from broken fragments of ancient pottery as they are pieced together with lacquer laced with gold.

For Bernice and Julian this represents their desire to present the best Southern Rhone inspired wine we can make in a year, no matter its varietal components. This wine hails from the excellent 2022 vintage, and it is essentially an ode to old vine Grenache wine, with only a small 4% inclusion of Shiraz.

The Grenache was sourced from three separate bush vine blocks: 67% from two neighbouring Blewitt Springs vineyards planted in 1939 and 1952 respectively, the balance from the 1922 plantings of the Smart vineyard in Clarendon. The Shiraz component was grown in Ministry of Cloud’s Onkaparinga Rocks vineyard.

The fruit was picked over a two-week period on four separate dates and fermented in traditional open fermenters with indigenous yeasts and a 46% whole bunch inclusion. The ferment was hand plunged with total days on skins between 3-4 weeks, parcel pending. The final blend matured further on gross lees without racking in old French oak puncheons.

About Ministry of Clouds

Bernice Ong and Julian Forwood launched Ministry of Clouds in 2012, bringing between them close to three decades of experience working for some of Australia's most respected wine producers.

Based in McLaren Vale, their focus from the outset has been on old vine Grenache, Shiraz and Mataro, with a particular reverence for the pioneering families who persisted with their Grenache plantings when the prevailing wisdom of earlier decades urged them to pull the vines out. That stubbornness is the foundation of everything Ministry of Clouds does with the variety.