Winemaker Notes
Thorny Devil comes from a variety of sites, all of which have in common that that they are old, bush trained and dry grown. With Grenache, we are always looking to maximize fruit purity, texture and finesse and do so through earlier picking, selection of blocks within the vineyard and a detailed understanding of each site and how it reacts to the season. The resulting wine has the characteristic McLaren Vale perfume and spice with a beguiling texture and perfume that unfolds, layer by layer.
Professional Ratings
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Australian Wine Companion
While vintage '22 may not scale the heights of '21, it was another attenuated, Euro-styled year of poise, enough fruit weight and immense freshness. Savoury, the signature. I'll take that over obvious sweetness any day. The first cab off the premier rank. A subregional blend limited to old, dry-grown bush vines. Varying degrees of whole bunches. A number of picking windows, too, to embellish freshness and enough weight. Fermentation is ambient. I'd be hard-pressed to find a better wine than this for the price. Kirsch, ume, cranberry, bergamot and a scape of pixelated tannin, sandy of feel, directing length.
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James Suckling
The 2022 vintage was a Euro-styled year of poise with plenty of fruit weight and immense freshness, although it has not reached the same lofty heights as the 2021 vintage. Savory. I'll take that over obvious sweetness any day. The first cab from the premier rank. A sub-regional blend limited to old, dry-grown bush vines. Varying degrees of whole bunches. A number of picking windows, too, to embellish freshness and enough weight. Ambient fermentation. One would be hard-pressed to find a better wine than this for the price. Kirsch, ume, cranberry, bergamot and a scape of pixelated tannin, sandy of feel, directing length. Drink or hold.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
This is a super little wine. The 2022 Thorny Devil Grenache is spicy, supple and shaped, as all the Thistledown Grenaches are, by ductile, flowing tannins in the mouth. This has shape and form, but it is also a plump, cushioned little number that gives all manner of pleasure. It's a generous, smiling little thing, delicious. There are notes of blood, raspberry, red licorice and ferrous. It is sapid as all get up. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.
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Wine Enthusiast
A gently appealing nose of ripe red berry fruit is backed by flowers still on their stalks, white pepper and milk chocolate. The palate is full-figured by Grenache standards, with crunchy acidity and tightly structured, chalky tannins, but it never loses its silky, red-fruited juiciness.
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Known for opulent red wines with intense power and concentration, McLaren Vale is home to perhaps the most “classic” style of Australian Shiraz. Vinified on its own or in Rhône Blends, these hot-climate wines are deeply colored and high in extract with signature hints of dark chocolate and licorice. Cabernet Sauvignon is also produced in a similar style.
Whites, often made from Chardonnay or Sauvignon Blanc tend to be opulent and full of tropical, stone and citrus fruit.