Thistledown 'She's Electric' Old Vine Grenache

Masters of Wine, Giles Cooke & Fergal Tynan, founded Thistledown Wines in 2010 after discovering iconic vineyard sites in the McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills.

They make hand-made, small batch wines that perfectly illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent, minimalist winemaking.

Some vineyards have a remarkable story to tell and Thistledown came upon such a vineyard in late 2016. At the Seaview end of Chapel Hill Rd, it’s old bush vines contrasted by a planting of much younger Grenache. Half of the vineyard was burned when a bird caught light on a power line, fell to the ground and set light to the vineyard, we love a nice back story here....  Dry grown, old bush vines, grown on red-brown sandy loams with quartz and ironstone. Low intervention viticulture with minimal spray regime, cover crops and promotion of biodiversity.

The fruit was hand-picked early in the morning before swift transport to the winery where they retained 50% whole bunches. A gentle foot pressing helped establish the wild ferment. Once fermented, the wine was transferred to 300 litre used French oak hogsheads where it stayed for 6 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.

Aromatic, fragrant and almost pinot-like, this wine has great energy. Cranberry, spice and wild cherry combine with silky texture to create a beautifully elegant red.

Food Matching
Drink with North African and Middle eastern cuisine or robust fish dishes.

Vegan