Thistledown wines narrate the stories and harness the energy of South Australia's iconic vineyard sites to hand-craft detailed, pure & precise Grenache, Shiraz & Chardonnay. Since 2011 Thistledown has hand-made delicious, energetic wines – all sourced from iconic vineyard sites in the Barossa Valley, McLaren Vale, and the Adelaide Hills. We are founded by two Masters of Wine, Giles Cooke MW, and Fergal Tynan MW, whose vision is to make small-batch wines reflecting their personality and that of the ‘place’ and growers. At our winery in the Adelaide Hills, our focus is on crafting premium, small-batch, low-intervention wines from sites that we believe are special. It's no secret that we're obsessed with Grenache, particularly the old vine, dry-grown stuff in McLaren Vale and Barossa. We’ve been gathering the very best selection of Grenache sites in Australia and have become an authority on Australian Grenache and its ‘Grand Cru’ capability.

We were awarded Best Grenache in Australia in Halliday Wine Companion 2022 and hold a Halliday 5 red star rating, and The Real Review 'Top Wineries of Australia'. Although we might be somewhat deluded in our belief that the world is just about to wake up to the delights of Grenache, our extensive travels throughout The Rhône and in Spain convinced us that with low yields and meticulous fruit sourcing, Grenache makes world-class wine. Grenache is Australia’s signature grape variety and we’re slightly obsessed with it. Utilising a range of premium vineyards across South Australia, we’ve crafted a wine that captures all that is good about Grenache. Aromatic, deceptively light but with beautiful wild fruit, and slurpy, supple tannins. All vineyards are vinified in small batches, separately. Wild ferments, whole bunch inclusion, larger oak, and no filtration or fining define the natural character of the wine.