WILLUNGA 100 GRENACHE 2024

Winery notes (2024 Vintage)
"Bright red berry and pomegranate fruit aromas, along with flowering herbs- lavender and thyme. Medium bodied with vibrancy on the palate, the wine has flavours of red and dark cherries, and a savoury backbone of earthy spice and minerals. Finishing with lingering flavours that are supported by sinewy, yet fine tannins.

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.

Five parcels were selected across the 3 blocks, and from were hand harvested and vinified separately. The wines were fermented in stainless steel open fermenters. Some of the parcels were fermented with some whole bunch (equalling approx. 13% whole bunch across the blended wine). Each parcel spent between 8-12 days on skins then was gently basket pressed. 70% 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 malo lees for 10 months before being racked and blended prior to bottling."

96/100 Nick Ryan, The Weekend Australian (2024 Vintage)
If you’re at all curious why Blewitt Springs in McLaren Vale is the most hyped dirt in Australian wine right now, here’s the perfect entry point for imminent addiction. A worthy successor to the all-conquering 2023 vintage, it comes from 50-year-old bush vines dry grown in the sub-region’s defining sand. There’s a distinctive lift to the aromatics – abundant red berries, rubbed rosemary, a pinch of pomegranate too – but it’s the micro-fine tannin structure that really stamps its class.

93/100 Gary Walsh, The Wine Front (2024 Vintage)
"Black cherry and raspberry, a smattering of aromatic herbs and mint, some dark spice, a slight choc-hazelnut thing here too. It’s medium-bodied, a mixed of red and black fruit, a crisp subtle orange tang to acidity, pumice stone tannin grip with a cool spicy finish of good length. Bright and tasty. Varietal and good value too. Boxes are being ticked here."

93/100 Marcus Ellis, James Halliday's Wine Companion (2024 Vintage)
"From 50-year-old vines on the estate Blindspot vineyard, Blewitt Springs. A brilliant garnet in the glass, this is delightfully pure of feel, though with a little more generosity, a lower-gear drive than the single sites. There are some darker fruits, a violet note, iodine, iron, a rounding out of flavour from older oak maturation (70%). There’s drive and tension, too. Redcurrant gel, black cherry, dried hardy herbs, a little anise, with a savouriness to flavour and structure. It’s a fine introduction to the Willunga 100 grenache mission."

92/100 Erin Larkin, RobertParker.com, The Wine Advocate (2024 Vintage)
"The 2023 Grenache won Champion Wine of Show at the National Wine Show in Canberra in 2025, making headlines in its success as the first Grenache crowned with this glory in the show's history. As a judge at that show this year, the wine was among a class of Grenache wines that showed the strength and detail inherent in the best Grenaches in the country, and on the day, the 2023 Grenache was deemed the best of those that were entered. Aromatically, the 2024 Grenache leads with cherry, raspberry and red apple, with a slew of pure berry fruits through the middle palate and finish. The wine is fresh and juicy, with fine tannins from the 50+ year old bush vines in the Blind Corner vineyard in McLaren Vale from which the fruit was sourced. The 2024 season was warmer and drier than 2023, which produced the winning wine, and generally, the character of the 2024s is more aligned with 2022 than the cool wet season in the middle."

92/100 CampbellMattinson.com (2024 Vintage)
"For the most part this is a more-ish red wine full of sweet, raspberried fruit flavour. Through the finish though it turns savoury and dry, which gives it a more serious or contemplative side. Win-win. Earth, tobacco, and twiggy herb characters are minor-but-important players here. Grapey tannin is appropriate and attractive icing."