Saltfleet Grenache 2024

There’s an understatement to this. That’s not meant as detriment. It’s the thing about Saltfleet, from a youthful pair that crammed in intense experience with top mentors. There’s a maturity to the wines, a lack of flashiness. They go to the heart of things swiftly. So, there’s a certain refinement. There’s a little reduction, too, but a splash in a decanter fixes that. This feels picked at the right moment, capturing flavour but missing any bombast, whole-bunch spice threading through the red fruits. Dried cherry, cranberry, crushed autumn leaves, rust and struck flint, cardamom and green peppercorn. I preferred this on day two; open, elegant, savoury and just so poised. 95 points – Marcus Ellis, Halliday Wine Companion

Saltfleet’s Grenache is a more generous style. Stunning aromatics of English summer fruits, Middle Eastern spices, milk chocolate, cola, compost and campfire. Rich and generous, really mouth filling, but not heavy. Lovely fleshy fruit and mid palate pulp, all wrapped up in rich tannins and bright acidity. Utterly gorgeous drinking.

Sourced from two Blewitt Springs vineyards — The Brini Vineyard, which sits at 160-200m elevation, and another remarkable site just down the road planted in 1924. Both are dry-grown bush vines rooted in deep sandy soils over ironstone.

The result is a wine of fruit concentration, perfume, and structure. Red-fruited and finely textured, with gritty tannins. This is a wine that speaks of elegance, place, and restraint. – Saltfleet