2024 Ministry of Clouds Silk and Stone Grenache, McLaren Vale

From the Smart vineyard in Clarendon, with mostly original 1922-vine fruit employed, along with some from 1955; 63% whole bunch, about four weeks' total skin time, then old puncheons for élevage. Pale in the glass and evocatively aromatic, as is the Smart vineyard way. Sour cherry, Campari, wormwood, dried orange peel and coriander seed. The large whole-bunch component at relatively modest alcohol is neatly integrated, spicy rather than stalky. And yes, it tastes rocky and mineral and is silkily supple, as per the name. Grenache’s tendency to bountiful red fruits is so well measured here, the balance between savouriness and fruitfulness à point, the wine serenely medium weight yet so complex and layered. A lovely thing. Drink to 2036.

97 points Special Value Marcus Ellis for Halliday Wine Companion, May 2026

The 2024 Silk & Stone Single Site Grenache is floral and aromatic, fine in palate weight and yet persistent both in shape and length. This is a beautiful wine, as it was last year, perhaps with a little more concentration (although no darker in color, from memory). The fruit is from both the 1922 and 1955 plantings, picked and fermented separately, five days apart. The "newer" plantings are more upright, while the 1922 planting sprawls a little more along the ground. The late Bernard Smart tended this their generation vineyard right up until the time of his death, and he was widely loved and admired for his unbending work ethic—typified by his desire to prune the vines throughout his life. This is a highly sought-after vineyard, and the fruit quality speaks for itself. Only 1,281 bottles made. The fruit spent three to four weeks on the skins post ferment, with 63% whole bunches, the matured for seven months in old French oak puncheons. This is a super wine. It was bottled filtered yet unfined. Drink to 2035.

97 points Erin Larkin for The Wine Advocate, December 2025

Medium depth purple-red hue; earthy, spicy, mineral savoury aromas, a trace of Campari-like whole-bunch character, has more structure and substance than the regular grenache 2024. Impressive wine with depth and structure. From the 1922 plantings on the Smart vineyard, Clarendon. Drink to 2036.

95 points Huon Hooke for The Real Review, November 2025

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.