Thistledown Grenache Masterclass Pack

A collection of 3 beautiful and highly acclaimed South Australian Grenaches from masters of the variety, Thistledown.

This pack features the final bottles of the This Charming Man Grenache, the follow-up vintage to the Halliday Wine Companion Wine of the Year. It is only available as part of the limited edition Masterclass pack.

• 2025 Thistledown She’s Electric Grenache
• 2025 Thistledown This Charming Man Grenache
• 2025 Thistledown Sands of Time Grenache

2025 Thistledown She’s Electric Grenache

This Grenache from Thistledown comes from a single vineyard at the end of Chapel Hill Road, with a pretty wild story to tell.

The vineyard held both old and younger Grenache plantings, but almost saw a tragic end when a bird caught on fire from a power line then fell to the ground, taking the vineyard out with it. Somehow, some of those old bush vines survived the blaze - and we're certainly glad it did, because the fruit makes one luscious wine.

Highly aromatic, flavours of spiced wild strawberries, a rich, luxurious texture... really beautiful stuff.

95+ points
"There’s real charm to this right now, but there’s also a lot wound within, with layers of spice and earthy detail emerging with air. It’s the most finessed, elegant release of this I can recall, and that’s from a year that was both warm and extremely dry. Old vines, hey."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

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2025 Thistledown This Charming Man Grenache

Simply wonderful medium-bodied red out of McLaren Vale, so pure and precise, with great line, length and acidity.

It's 100% dry grown, bush vine Grenache from a 100+ year-old vineyard in Clarendon that has been maintained for generations by the Smart family - the charming man is one Bernard Smart...

Lightly tannic and lively-flavoured, it bursts with cherry and raspberry aromatics that make you return for sniff after sniff. Sweet red fruits and some spicy, graphitey notes flow on to a palate that is sandy, fine and, in a word... uplifting.

A few years would do it no harm but it wouldn't last that long in our cellar. A must-buy.

96 points
"A gutsy and deadly serious style of grenache that deserves and indeed begs for cellar time. Very impressive."
- Huon Hooke (The Real Review)

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2025 Thistledown Sands of Time Grenache

From a single 75 year-old vineyard in Blewitt Springs, this wine perfectly encapsulates why this sub-region of McLaren Vale is producing some of the best Grenache wines in Australia today.

There is real purity and power here. Highly aromatic with florals, spice, and dried citrus, it follows through to a palate that is both elegant and vibrant yet intensely concentrated. So smooth, with sweet berries, alongside more spice, and a hint of smoke.

This is the big-gun, and without a doubt, the showcase wine for Thistledown; so eminently drinkable, and beautiful. Really, this is a love letter to Grenache.

97 points
"Darker red fruits, as usual, more earthy, with some black spice notes and bergamot tea. Red and black cherry, rosehip, quite floral, if subdued, reds and blues... It’s a fine trajectory, and another superb release."
- Marcus Ellis (Halliday Wine Companion)

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