Thistledown Thorny Devil Grenache 2025

95 POINTS

Marcus Ellis - Halliday Wine Companion

Built from a mix of sites, with the theme being old bush vines; seasoned oak for about eight months. This has gone up a few dollars, yet it remains one of the country’s best value wines, when you consider provenance, quality and pure joy-giving potential. This is expressly fruitful and open at this early stage. Ripe redcurrant, maraschino cherries, rosehip tea, kirsch, rosewater and dried rose petals in spice, a stroll through a Persian souk – perhaps an indulgent analogy, but it has that evocation of ancient luxury, when spice and perfume were marvels. The elegant headiness is delightful, but it’s the natural tensioning that elevates this, with detailed, quietly complex tannins yielding integrated savouriness.

93 POINTS

Erin Larkin - Robert Parker Wine Advocate

The 2025 Thorny Devil Grenache is dark in the glass and layered with pomegranate molasses, raspberry compote, star anise/aniseed, dark chocolate and blood orange. In the mouth, the wine is concentrated and intense, with bright acidity that emphasizes the firmness of the tannins. I have found this circumstance of elevated acidity in many of the 2025s tasted today, and I am not sure whether or not to attribute this to the fact that they are unfinished samples (admittedly, very close to bottling) or if it is a factor of the way the vintage played out; despite the drought and heat, winemaker/proprietor Giles Cooke MW has said that there was an instance of higher malic acidity in this vintage. So here, the 2025 Thorny Devil Grenache is a product of its season, with its density, compaction and elevated acidity, which makes for a big impact in the mouth. I was glad to see it again in 2026 as a more settled wine. Bottled December 2025. 14.5% alcohol, sealed under screw cap.