Masters of Wine, Giles Cooke & Fergal Tynan, founded Thistledown Wines in 2010 after discovering iconic vineyard sites in the McLaren Vale, Barossa Valley and Adelaide Hills.  They make hand-made, small batch wines that perfectly illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent, minimalist winemaking.

The beautiful region of McLaren Vale is bounded by the Gulf to the West and the various ranges to the East and North. Geologically one of the most diverse regions on earth, it has long been the home to some of Australia’s finest expressions of Shiraz. The fruit comes from the Moray Park vineyard in the McLaren Flat sub-region. Low yielding and ultra-intense, they handle the fruit gently to capture the delicious berry fruit character, overlaid with subtle wood-spice.

Winemaking is simple with The Cunning Plan. Take perfectly balanced fruit, pick, gently crush to preserve whole berries and allow to soak for 4 days prior to a wild fermentation. Wild fermented and then pressed to French oak only, with either no new oak or only a small percentage used depending on vintage.

Great depth of ripe plum and blackberry fruit flavours. A full bodied wine with a succulent palate, lively spices and fine velvety tannins.
Great with hearty stews, Asian hotpots, cold meat cuts.

James Halliday – 93 Points

Robert Parkers – The Wine Advocate – 92 Points