Blewitt Springs · McLaren Vale
Jericho Family Vineyard Grenache
2024 · Grenache
95/100
From 1950s vines on a north-east-facing slope in Blewitt Springs on deep Maslin Sands; partial whole bunch and élevage in older French oak. This is a fine follow-on from the debut release. From a warmer year, but not overly so, this continues down the fragrant and detailed line of the '23, just with a little more grunt. This is so complete, the fruit ripe but with tart-fruited tension, the winemaking receding to the background. Sour cherry, wild raspberry, musky red florals, rhubarb, a quiet seasoning of Baharat, dried orange peel and bitter herbs. The tannic scaffolding is carefully extracted, food friendly, directional and moreish. — Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion
Winemaking
Handpicked fruit is wild fermented with significant whole bunch and gently extracted. Neutral puncheons hold the wine rather than flavour it, keeping the aromatics bright and lifted — a floral, spicy Grenache built on elegance rather than weight.
The vineyard
The Jericho Family Vineyard sits on a north-east facing hilltop in Blewitt Springs at 140 metres, planted to Grenache in 1955. The aspect catches the morning sun and sheds the worst of the afternoon heat, lengthening the ripening window and holding acidity. Classic deep Blewitt Springs sand — ancient, free-draining, low in nutrition — keeps yields down and concentrates what fruit does set.