2023 Stonewall Single Vineyard Grenache
23 Stonewall Grenache
Our Stonewall Grenache vineyard lies on a gentle slope bordered to the south by a beautiful ironstone wall built in the 1860s. This small plot of around half an acre produces a fragrant wine of medium body and great persistence.
”A single-vineyard estate wine on a gentle slope bordered by a stone wall, no less. Planted a year after the other estate grenache blocks – all tiny bush-vine plantings – 15 years ago, or so, with this on rockier, tougher soils. No whole bunches, fermented in concrete, pressed to oak for three months élevage, then to steel for six months. The block was singled out for its fragrance and ‘more ethereal characters’. Ethereal perhaps, but it’s also deep, a little sultry, with crème de griotte, blood plum, umeboshi, dusky rose and Cherry Ripe, driven by authentic-feeling sandy, chewy tannins. Like its sibling, this is so present now, but it will blossom with modest age, and the score could likely tick up. 95 points”
Marcus Ellis, Wine Companion
"Here we have strawberry and iodine, cherry and raw almond, dusty and dry, pomegranate and spice, with an ironstone finish of excellent length. Excellent Grenache. Coriole are doing so well with this grape variety. 94 points"
Gary Walsh, Winefront
”Pretty, almost tentative grenache that grows in trajectory with aeration. So lacy that the feel is medium-bodied rather than full. Rose petals, dried thyme, cloves, sandalwood and white pepper. The finish is a little drying and hollow, but nothing a few years in the cellar can't fix. Drink or hold. 93 points”
Ned Goodwin MW, JamesSuckling.com