2022 Thistledown Sands of Time Grenache, Blewitt Springs McLaren Vale

This is pretty. Lifted and fresh and laden with sweet, succulent red fruits, tangerine zest, musk, kirsch, rosewater and lilac. Blewitt over the Charming Man from Clarendon. This is brighter, floral, earthier and sweeter; the Clarendon is tighter, more textural, airier and considerably more savoury. Clarendon wins, but it is not always the case. This is still a brilliant, flamboyant grenache, if not a little sweet across the diaphanous tannic seams. It is a treat to witness the rise of grenache, the flag bearer of the most exciting chapter of Australian wine to date.

96 points Ned Goodwin MW winecompanion.com.au 

Exotic, so much perfume of flowering herbs, aniseed, chocolate, dark raspberry and cherry. Muscular style, purple and ripe red fruits, lots of spice, layers of graphite tannin grip, all blue and spicy on a very long and firm finish. Quite something.

96 points Gary Walsh winefront.com.au

Highly aromatic with notes of sandalwood, dried orange, violets and wood spice on the nose, it follows through to a palate that is paradoxically elegant and vibrant but concentrated and persistent. Silky smooth with a glossy, highly attractive palate of wild strawberry, violets and the merest hint of cinnamon and woodsmoke. Achingly beautiful but deliciously drinkable all at once.

A faithful expression of the site – beautiful, haunting aromatics, fine sandy tannins and wonderful, memorable length on the palate.

Suitable for vegetarians & vegans.

Early on in our Grenache journey, we were introduced to Sue Trott’s Home Block in the Blewitt Springs sub-region of McLaren Vale. It’s beautiful aspect, raised elevation and free-draining deep sandy soils are the perfect spot for dry-grown bush-vine Grenache and we were so lucky to be offered the opportunity to purchase a little fruit. Some years on and we have learned a little about the site and refined our picking decisions and vinification to the extent that from 2017 we were content that we could do the site justice by bottling separately.