Thistledown She's Electric Grenache 2025

Some vineyards have a remarkable story to tell and we came upon such a vineyard in late 2016. At the Seaview end of Chapel Hill Rd, its old bush vines contrasted by a planting of much younger Grenache. Apparently, half of the vineyard was burned when a bird caught light on a power line, fell to the ground and set light to the vineyard! We were so glad that some of the amazing old vines are still there for us to use.

Dry grown, old bush vines, grown on red-brown sandy loams with quartz and ironstone. Low intervention viticulture with minimal spray regime, cover crops and promotion of biodiversity.
The fruit was hand-picked early in the morning before swift transport to the winery where we retained 50% whole bunches. A gentle foot pressing helped establish the wild ferment. Once fermented, the wine was transferred to 500l puncheons & 300 litre used French oak hogsheads where it stayed for 8 months before being bottled unfined and unfiltered.