Vintage Reports

After 3 years of the cool, wetter weather patterns associated with La Niña, we were promised a warm, dry season as El Niño takes hold. However, the ‘24 growing season turned out to be a little more complicated than that!

Winter provided ample rain but as the season progressed, cool, drier weather dominated. Most varieties went through bud burst much earlier than the previous year which has resulted in, despite the relatively cool conditions, a much earlier vintage. Weather around flowering and fruit set was not ideal in Barossa and Adelaide Hills which led to reduced yields and a preponderance of “hen & chicken” berry development. The later fruit set of Grenache in McLaren Vale, benefitted from more favourable conditions which led through to a healthy yield in most vineyards.

Summer has been generally cool with some uncharacteristic heavy rainfalls pre-veraison which resulted in some disease pressure which required careful and frequent attention in the vineyard. However, there has been barely a drop of rain in February and March and the weather has been extremely settled with only one spell of heat in the 2nd week of March. Rarely has there been such a benign spell of weather to harvest fruit in. Very little disease pressure and generally small yields has made this an unusually relaxed vintage for Thistledown.

Our first picks were on 15th February for Grenache Rosé and McLaren Vale Roussanne, and our last pick was old vine Grenache on the 25th March. Characteristics of the season would be little disease pressure during the ripening period, very clean fruit, slightly lower than average alcohol potential and lively acids.

At this early stage it looks like a very high quality vintage across the board and I’m especially confident in the quality of all of our single vineyard offerings in ‘24 – it will be very exciting to see them evolve and be brought to market in 2025.

The third in a series of La Niña influenced vintages, 2023 was perhaps the most extreme. In an erratic season, the consistent theme was of cooler than average temperatures and wet weather periods during the ripening period. Yields varied massively from site to site and this meant for massive variations in ripening periods and more detailed vineyard work than ever before. The lack of intense heat resulted in one of the latest seasons on record and the wines made display elegance, brilliant aromatics and supreme balance.

2022 vintage followed in much the same vein as the much-lauded 2021. A little later than normal but the season was characterised by regular moderate rainfall, friendly temperatures and an elongated ripening period which allowed for an even spread of fruit over the harvesting period. The wines are characterised by balanced, aromatic fruit profiles, lovely energy and silky tannins which give a capacity for both youthful exuberance and ageing.

Rare is the vintage that combines good yields and high quality but 2021 was just that. A remarkable vintage in that it was once again pandemic affected but that it was

measured and mild with none of the heat spikes or drought conditions of recent years.

With good levels of winter rains filling soil profiles, the mild weather with intermittent

rains throughout the growing and ripening season ensured that fruit ripened over a long period of time and the vintage was one of the longest in recent history. The results are spectacular, healthy fruit, moderate sugars and complex flavours, have resulted in

wines of beautiful balance, fragrance and varietal typicity.

Right across South Australia, the 2019 vintage will be remembered as a very challenging one. Very dry conditions persisted throughout the growing season while some areas also had to contend with frost, hail and wind – all of which reduced the crop but helped increase concentration and quality. Our rosé was hand-picked in mid-February, before the extreme heat in early March, thus retaining the vibrant red fruits that we sought.