Willunga 100 Blind Spot Grenache 2024

The 2024 Blind Spot Vineyard Grenache leads with rose petals and sweet tobacco, and layers of graphite and floral perfume abound. This is alluring and delicate, fragrant and mineral. It's a seriously typical McLaren Vale Grenache, which is a compliment of the highest order. In the mouth, the wine is silky, supple and fresh, with blood orange, timut pepper and fennel. The fruit was whole-berry sorted, with no crushing—i.e., a little carbonic maceration impact—and was basket pressed to stainless steel. The wine then spent 10 months on light lees in stainless steel, and while a small component of large-format oak was blended back in, this is not a main feature of the wine. It's a truly beautiful wine here, a mainline into the dirt—to be specific, the very fine, sandy dunes that account for the majority of the terroir here. It is unique to this place (magic numbers: naturally low pH of 3.22 and total acidity of 6.72, with flavor and phenolic ripeness) and magnificent. 14% alcohol, sealed under screw cap. 97 pts, Erin Larkin, The Wine Advocate