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Buy OnlineMasters 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.
Winery notes (2022 Vintage)
"A Rhône inspired white which takes the richly textured Roussanne and blends with the crisp, green apple and citrus of Grenache Blanc to create a wine of real balance and complexity. Walking with Kings is a wine that we have always wanted to make, one that is true to our original goals and is not driven by commercial compromise.
A richly textured white wine with creamy, aromatic and exotic notes from Roussanne and more vibrant, green apple from Grenache. The end result is a wine so versatile, complex yet so moreish."
95/100 James Halliday's Wine Companion (2022 Vintage)
"A blend of 60% roussanne, the remainder grenache blanc. This is excellent. The kind of varieties, despite the young vines, boding so well for a bright future. Tatami straw, lemon drop, quinine, pickled stone fruits and ginger. Long and drawn out across a spindle of tannin chew as much as an intuitive verb of maritime freshness. Soft, mind you, but perfectly positioned. A mid-weighted wine of textural tapestry, poise and verve."
94/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, February 2023 (2022 Vintage)
"Lemon zest, honey and almond, green apple and pear, with a little perfume of aniseed and dried herb. It’s waxy and rich, yet fresh and bright with tart white fleshed fruit, a chalky and gently bitter phenolic pucker, a distinctly saline/oyster shell character, with honey gloss and a pithy finish of excellent length. You have to dig these white Rhône styles, maybe, though I like this a lot."
93/100 Tina Gellie, Decanter, February 2023 (2022 Vintage)
"A new wine from this exciting label: a blend of Roussanne, wild-fermented in French oak (25% new), and biodynamically farmed Grenache Blanc that's oxidatively fermented in concrete. Bold yet elegant flavours of waxy quince, apricot blossom and a fresh apple crunch with raspy tannins and a chalky texture."
93/100 Robert Parker's Wine Advocate, February 2023 (2022 Vintage)
"The 2022 Walking With Kings Roussanne Grenache Blanc was sourced from McLaren Vale. Both varieties were handpicked and barrel fermented utilizing wild yeasts. The nose is soft and round with honeydew melon, spiced pear and orchard fruits. In the mouth, the wine is both complex and pert; the texture is complex and softened, thanks to the élevage in oak, while the acidity is tense and bright—a handy juxtaposition in a summer wine. Very smart. Drink 2023 – 2029."
16.5/20 Richard Hemming MW, JancisRobinson.com, December 2022 (2022 Vintage)
"60% Roussanne, fermented in French oak (30% new). 40% Grenache Blanc fermented separately, mostly in concrete. The name is a reference to the poem 'If' by Kipling. Lovely pure apricot fruit, very well-integrated high acid (too often these wines taste over-acidified, but not this one). There's a bitter herbal finish that really works, giving a savoury twist to the ripe but restrained fruit."
