Though the season was late, cool and sometimes damp, it ended with lower than average rainfall. Above average rainfall in July and August filled soil profiles and dams but from then on the season was very dry. Dry weather characterized the 2018 vintage and the low disease pressure coupled with ideal conditions for flowering and early development set the vines up excellently. With virtually no rainfall between January and April, fruit quality in all areas was very good though some heat stress in February led to isolated defoliation.

Thistledown’s strong relationships with the growers of some of the finest vineyard in McLaren Vale provide the foundations for this wine. Giles is always looking to maximize fruit purity, texture and finesse rather than making another rich red wine and, while there is no denying that Grenache is more burly than Pinot, he always has the vision of making Pinot style wines within the, albeit, challenging framework of Grenache! That pursuit is made all the easier when you have access to numerous old vine, dry grown, bush trained vineyards. Extensive walking and tasting is done pre-vintage to ensure that the fruit is picked on the way up to capture the brighter fresher personality of the variety. Though the vineyards are seriously low yield (1.5-3 ton/acre) the approach is let the fruit infuse rather than extract too hard. Fruit is hand-picked, and each vineyard is separately vinified. Wild fermentation are preceded by cold soak, gentle hand plunging ensures subtle tannin extraction prior to pressing off to larger French oak barrels where the wine remains for 10 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.