The Fool on the Hill is sourced from a beautiful contoured site high above the Barossa Valley. Isolated and challenging, those pioneers who originally had the foresight to plant, must have sometimes questioned their sanity.
Joel Mattschoss’ Trial Hill Vineyard, has old bush trained vines that have been brought back into rude health, their fruit is filled with energy, intensity and mineral strewn complexity.
HIGHLIGHT PRESS FOR 2024
97+ points – Wine Advocate (Erin Larkin) 'The 2024 Fool on the Hill Grenache is from Eden Valley, and the wine is abundantly aromatic and eloquent of its place. The tiered vineyard site is up near Pewsey Vale and overlooks the Barossa from its vantage point of 500 meters above sea level. The wine is aromatically soft, textural and plump in the mouth, with rose petals and blood orange, red apples and redcurrants. With a hint of pomegranate molasses, the quartz comes through, and there's an integrated base of savory flavor that balances the exuberance of it. It's a highly attractive, gorgeous wine that speaks of the Eden in its splay of rocky tannin. It is chewy and powdery and fills the mouth with floral perfume. It fermented in concrete, which was a "layer cake of whole bunch and whole berry," says founder and winemaker Giles Cooke MW. The ferment received no pumping over, i.e., a very gentle extraction. Post ferment, it matured for 10 months in three- to five-year-old French puncheons. When I think of the three Grenache wines, I, perhaps controversially, given the others are from McLaren Vale, admire the tannin structure of this one the most. They all are magnificent wines.'
97 points – The Real Review (Gabrielle Poy) 'An intense note of raspberry essence mixes with dried rose petals and subtle kelp aromas. It's almost playing cat and mouse - you think it's presented itself, and then more aromas appear: fresh leather and sour cherries. The palate is a beam of flavour, echoing the nose. A crescendo of silty tannins carries the flavours along, never interfering with graceful expression. This is glorious grenache providing off-the-charts enjoyment. It's so complete in its youth and will only gain greater complexity with age.'
96 points – Halliday Wine Companion (Marcus Ellis) 'Fermented in concrete pyramid with 20% whole bunches; 11 months in seasoned French oak. This from a new site to the brand, the Trial Hill vineyard, now owned and managed by Joel Mattschoss. This speaks the Thistledown dialect, expressly pure fruited yet intrinsically savoury, floral, elegant yet deep, finely but properly structured. There’s the usual cohort of red fruits, but it’s a little more earthy and spicy than its Vale peers. Day two is when this truly shines, becoming more fragrant with musk and souk spices. This is a wine to watch.'
