The Australian Wine Club: great deal on Grenache
We're talking about grenache, the Cinderella of Australian grapes, now dancing on the wine lists of great restaurants around the world.
Australia is home to the oldest grenache vines on the planet – the Barossa's Cirillo family trace their bush vines back to 1850 – but these botanical treasures weren't recognised as such until a new generation of winemakers started experimenting 10 to 15 years ago.
One of those pioneers, Thistledown's Giles Cooke, is the winemaker behind one of the stars of The Australian Wine Club's celebration of grenache this week, with his highly rated 2024 Thorny Devil a flagwaver for a new contemporary style.
In our dozen deal, Penny's Hill 95-point The Experiment Grenache 2021 joins Bleasdale's nicely pitched Langhorne Creek Grenache 2023 and a classic Barossa grenache blend from artisan producer, Schwarz Wine Co.
Grenache was a vital component in the fortified wines that drove Australia's wine industry in the early 1900s but was left in the shadow of shiraz when table wines came to the fore over the past 50 years.
With shiraz taking priority, grenache's fate was to be left to hang on vines for too long, over-ripening the berries and stripping away natural acid, resulting in dull wines with higher-than-desirable alcohol levels.
As a result, straight grenache wines were seen as offering little more than a 'cheap and cheerful' drinking option – far from the exalted wines made in France's Chateauneuf du Pape and Spain's Priorat region.
Then, around 2010, something happened: a new breed of winemakers like Cooke, with vintages under their belt in European grenache strongholds, recognised Australia's unique old-vine wealth and devoted themselves to the pursuit of grenache greatness.
It also helped that long-neglected grenache growers were happy to sell their grapes at low prices, enabling young winemakers to innovate.
'From the get go, it was really about trying to do something to keep these old vineyards in the ground,'' says Paddy Gilhooly, Thistledown's co-proprietor. 'A lot of growers were having trouble selling their grapes. We thought grenache is such a rich part of Australia's viticultural history, it deserved better.'
Thistledown winemaker Giles Cooke, left, during harvest in McLaren Vale.
Rather than leaving the grapes on vines until late in the season, winemakers like Cooke focused on picking the fruit at a more optimum time when the grapes were showing a balance between sweetness, acidity and tannin. 'We pick on the way up rather than on the way down,' says Cooke, a Master of Wine.
The Thistledown crew have also found that vines grown in sandy soils tend to produce wines with particularly lifted aromatics. The ancient sands of Blewitt Springs, in the northern reaches of McLaren Vale, have become highly regarded by those chasing this delicate style of complex Australian grenache.
Think of fresh aromas of raspberries, red currant and strawberries, with a hint of pomegranate and orange rind, perhaps, and spicy, savoury characters adding layers of flavour.
'Grenache is being seen as a gateway wine for lovers of pinot noir – people who like lighter, fresher wines that also go well with food,'' says Gilhooly, who has been on the Thistledown train since 2014. 'Like pinot, you can really see the terroir in grenache – the different characters that come from different sites. You see that in good Burgundy and Barolo (made from nebbiolo in Italy's north).'
Fourteen years after their first vintage in 2011, Thistledown can show off a portfolio of extremely limited single vineyard offerings from old McLaren and Barossa sites (wines like Sands of Times, This Charming Man, Fool on the Hill and She's Electric) as well as high quality, multi-vineyard grenache like Thorny Devil and the entry level Gorgeous Grenache range.
With awards like the 2025 Halliday Wine Companion's Grenache of the Year, and 'by the glass' listings at Michelin-starred and top-hatted restaurants from Barcelona and London to New York, Hong Kong and Singapore, there's no question Thistledown and Australian grenache has arrived on the world stage.
'There's a lot of buzz about grenache and there's much more consumer awareness now but there's still a need for education,'' Gilhooly says.
The best way to be educated, of course, is to try these wines yourself.
Thistledown Thorny Devil McLaren Vale Grenache 2024
From dry grown vines at least 50 years old. Pretty aromatics of raspberries, red cherries, redcurrants and rose flowers, with hints of clove, sarsaparilla, a smudge of garden herbs and pepper spice. Pristine fruit flows through layers of flavours, with fresh acid and mellow tannins on the way to a lingering finish. Over delivers. 93 points, Halliday Wine Companion. 14.5% alc; RRP $36.
SPECIALS $34.50 a bottle in any dozen; $23.99 a bottle in grenache dozen
Penny's Hill The Experiment McLaren Vale Grenache 2021
Decadent aromas of dark cherries, plums, cedar, spice and vanilla and nutmeg. Intense ripe black cherries wash through the palate, with liquorice and anise hints. Creamy texture. Rich, generous and gorgeous. 95 points, Wine Orbit. 14.5% alc; RRP $45.
SPECIALS $42.99 a bottle in any dozen; $23.99 a bottle in grenache dozen
Bleasdale Langhorne Creek Grenache 2023
Cherry, strawberry and raspberry scents lift from the glass, with milk chocolate and a touch of aniseed and minty herbs. Juicy fruit (red berry and sour cherry), fine-grained tannins and crunchy acidity drive to a lovely fresh finish. 94 points, Halliday Wine Companion. 13.5% alc; RRP $30.
SPECIALS $27.99 a bottle in any dozen; $23.99 a bottle in grenache dozen
Schwarz The Grower Barossa Valley GSM 2022
Classical Rhone-style blend. Scents of strawberry, raspberry, plum and mushroom lead to a beautifully composed palate, with rich fruit flavours joined by savoury nuances of cured meats, spice and earthy undertones. 92 points, Halliday Wine Companion. 14% alc; RRP $32 a bottle.
SPECIALS $29.99 a bottle in any dozen; $23.99 a bottle in grenache dozen
GRENACHE DOZEN Three bottles of each wine above for $23.99 a bottle. SAVE $141.
Order online or phone 1300 765 359 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm AEST and quote 'ACCJ'. Deals are available only while stocks last. The Australian Wine Club is a commercial partnership with Laithwaites Wine.
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