WILLUNGA 100 GRENACHE 2023

Prime Minister's Trophy for Champion Wine of Show – National Wine Show of Australia 2025
Trophy for Red Wine of Show – National Wine Show of Australia 2025
Trophy for Best Grenache of Show – National Wine Show of Australia 2025
Top Gold Medal & 96/100 – National Wine Show of Australia 2025

The National Wine Show is Australia’s premier wine event, featuring only gold and silver medal-winning wines from major wine shows across Australia. With only the highest-awarded wines making it to the judging table, National Wine Show winners represent the best of the best Australian wines.

In 2025, the National Wine Show marked its 50th anniversary and for the first time ever the very top accolade, wine of the show, has been awarded to a Grenache. This is a notable achievement for an industry dominated by Shiraz and is welcome recognition for the leaps and bounds that Australian Grenache is making. We are massive fans and expect you will be also.

Winery notes (2023 Vintage)
"Bright vibrant cherries and red berries along with rose and violet floral aromatics, and background fresh herbs – sage and rocket.  A medium weight wine with flavours of fresh red cherries and pomegranate, some earthy spice, minerality and hints of red liquorice. This is a textural wine and has fine tannins carrying the flavours into a lingering finish.

Sourced from Willunga 100's own estate vineyard 'Blind Spot' in the sub-region of Blewitt Springs (McLaren Vale). 100% dry grown bush vine Grenache from three different sections of the vineyard, each with a slightly different aspect/elevation. Vine age is approximately 50 years old. The soils of the vineyard are deep Maslin sand over a base of ironstone and clay.

The three selected parcels were hand harvested and vinified separately. The wines were fermented in stainless steel open fermenters. One parcel was fermented with 25% whole bunch (equalling approx. 10% whole bunch across the wine). 10 days on skins, gently basket pressed. 85% of the wine was transferred to aged French oak puncheons post primary fermentation to undergo malolactic fermentation, the balance remained in stainless steel. The wine remained on fluffy lees for 10 months before being racked prior to bottling. No fining, vegan friendly."

93/100 Marcus Ellis, James Halliday's Wine Companion (2023 Vintage)
"There’s great value on the table here. With the fruit cost of grenache rising quickly, perhaps soon it will only be estate-grown wines like this that will be able to maintain the modest price of entry – we shall see. Redcurrant jelly, bergamot, raspberry leaf tea, preserved cherries, dried orange peel and white pepper; there’s a coolness from the vintage, but it’s picked properly ripe, with the sandy soils gifting lilting fragrance underpinned with a rocky, iron-like minerality, tannins finely emphatic, acidity brisk. This will be singing on release."

93/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front, March 2025 (2023 Vintage)
"Bush vine, hand-picked, 15% whole bunch, 10 days on skins. 40% stainless, the remainder older oak. From 1968 plantings on the Blind Spot vineyard. Spicy, aromatic, red cherry, red berries, cranberry, slight gum leaf and orange peel. Medium-bodied, spicy and hazelnutty, quite some chew to tannin, a bit of orange peel bitterness on the finish. Nice balance. Good wine. Like it. Gustatory. Good drinking."