Ever since historic Scots, James Busby and John MacArthur founded the Australian wine industry in the early 19th century, the relationship between Scotland and Australia has been an enduring one. Guardians of this long history, Thistledown Wine Co. continues the tradition of Scottish ingenuity and great Australian wine. From their small-batch winery in the idyllic Adelaide Hills, they work with pristine fruit sourced from iconic vineyard sites. Giles Cooke MW and Fergal Tynan MW, with the helping hand of Peter Leske, craft lithe, energetic wines that illustrate the benefits of great sites and intelligent, low-intervention winemaking. Giles and Fergal share a particular passion for Grenache and, in ever more detail, Thistledown continue to unpick the rich patchwork of South Australian Grenache – reassembling it in their own inimitable style. This unique blend of superb fruit sources and experience in both the New and the Old Worlds helps craft wine of subtlety, texture and detail – wines perfectly suited to complement rather than overwhelm fine food. Viticulture- The flood plains between the Angas and Bremer rivers have long been home to some of South Australia's best fruit and it is the cream of the Langhorne Creek crop that we use to craft The Cunning Plan. The region tends towards later ripening than the Barossa or McLaren Vale and this allows us to use perfectly ripe fruit at lower sugar levels which results in wine with better alcohol balance. Winemaking- As ever, we are looking for fruit that is on the way up, with bright fruit and well balanced tannin and acidity. Picking is done early in the morning to keep the must cool and is very gently crushed before movement to tank where it is allowed to cold soak for a couple of days before fermentation. Fermentation to dryness is followed by a short time left on skins before the wine is pressed and moved to 300 litre French hogsheads, of which 10% are new. Malolactic fermentation is done in barrel, where the wine is left for a period of 10 months prior to bottling. Oak Treatment- Time: 10 Months; Type: French; % oaked: 100; % new oak: 10.