Thistledown was established by Master of Wine Giles Cooke, who envisioned crafting a more elegant and textural style of Australian wine. Early on, this vision led to access to some of the country’s finest vineyards, including many previously overlooked Old Vine Grenache blocks. Combining these incredible, historic fruit sources with Giles’ growing expertise has rapidly earned Thistledown a reputation as one of Australia’s premier wine producers.

Early in their Grenache journey, they were fortunate to connect with Sue Trott’s Home Block in the Blewitt Springs sub-region of McLaren Vale. With its beautiful aspect, elevated position, and free-draining deep sandy soils, this site is ideal for dry-grown bush-vine Grenache. After several years of working closely with the vineyard, refining their picking and winemaking approach, they reached a point in 2017 where they felt confident enough to honor the unique character of this exceptional site by bottling its fruit separately.

A very gentle, slow fermentation is followed by maturation in oak and concrete before a careful selection is done, which is then bottled unfined and unfiltered 10 months later. 

Winemaker Notes

A faithful expression of the site – beautiful, haunting aromatics, fine sandy tannins and 
wonderful, memorable length on the palate. Thistledown Wine Company