Vintage Reports

2025 was momentous in many ways. It was the first vintage that Thistledown was fully independent and, in amongst all the organised chaos of vintage time, we were also implementing new IT and finance systems and processes. If all looked serene above the surface, I can guarantee that we were paddling furiously down below!

Though we didn't know it at the time, the 2025 vintage had big boots to fill. The release of our 2024 wines was our most successful yet - we could not have dreamed of winning both the Halliday Wine of the Year and being crowned Bushing Monarchs for the Best Wine of Show in McLaren Vale.

So, while vintage 2025 didn't disappoint in terms of quality, it was something of a let down in terms of quantity. Two of our most important wines, This Charming Man and She's Electric were both down more than 50% on the 2024 yield. Other wines performed better but the clear message this year is secure your single vineyard wines early, or not at all.

If I was to summarise 2025, it would be dry, warm and early. But, as ever, such generalisations hide so many variables. It was undoubedtly a very dry season, certainly the driest in the brief history of Thistledown, and the driest in the region since 2003. Should your vineyard have needed irrigation, water ran out and the hard decisions as to which varieties to water had to be made. Fortunately for Thistledown, most of our production is dry grown and old vine, so the deep roots tapped into otherwise unseen reserves of water and nutrients.

It was also a very early season courtesy of warm weather encouraging an early bud burst followed by continued settled weather during flowering and fruit set. Almost 2 weeks ahead of the norm, the start of vintage was the earliest on record, with our first fruit (Roussanne) coming in on the 31st January - lets hope we don't see that early for a while. Warm, settled weather during ripening ensured that vintage was early and fast, with it all wrapped up by the end of March.

Though the weather was uniformly dry and warm, we did not experience heatwaves, and the cool nights ensured that the vines got some respite and the quality of fruit that came off, was extremely high. The drought resulted in smaller than average berry sizes which in turn has embued the reds with more colour and tannin than in the last 2 vintages and the wines from 2025 will certainly be a contrast to the paler, more high-toned wines of '24.

It's on record now that I am nervous about releasing our wines - we do not make wines to a recipe but prefer to accept what the beautiful sites we work with offer us - and so how these wines are received is not in my hands. All I can say is that this release is amongst our best and I can't wait to see how they are enjoyed.

Giles Cooke MW, Winemaker

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.