Region: McLaren Vale
Sub Region: Clarendon
Variety: Grenache
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2023
The Wine
Silk & Stone is one of Ministry of Clouds’ single-site Grenaches, produced to highlight the distinct character of Clarendon. The fruit comes from old bush vines planted in 1922 on a steep south-facing site at 230 metres, with dark loam over ironstone and clay. For the 2024 release, the wine was hand-picked and wild fermented in open vats, with 56–63% whole bunch retained, daily hand plunging and up to four weeks on skins before seven months’ maturation on gross lees in old French oak puncheons. The wine was bottled in December 2024. Critic notes on the 2024 release also reference fruit from both the 1922 and 1955 plantings, picked and fermented separately five days apart, with production of just 1,281 bottles.
Cellared Says
This is exactly the kind of Grenache that is hard to leave alone: fragrant, fine-boned and beautifully detailed, but with enough tannin and site definition to make cellaring worthwhile. For those who like McLaren Vale Grenache with perfume and shape rather than sheer sweetness, this is very much the ticket.
Reviews
97 points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate — from the 1922 and 1955 plantings, with 63% whole bunches, three to four weeks on skins and old puncheon élevage; described as a “super wine.”
96 points, The Wine Front — precise, textural and stony, with red fruit, spice and a superb finish.
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review — more structured and substantial than the regular Grenache, with savoury, mineral complexity and depth.
Region: McLaren Vale
Sub Region: Clarendon
Variety: Grenache
Country: Australia
Vintage: 2023
The Wine
Silk & Stone is one of Ministry of Clouds’ single-site Grenaches, produced to highlight the distinct character of Clarendon. The fruit comes from old bush vines planted in 1922 on a steep south-facing site at 230 metres, with dark loam over ironstone and clay. For the 2024 release, the wine was hand-picked and wild fermented in open vats, with 56–63% whole bunch retained, daily hand plunging and up to four weeks on skins before seven months’ maturation on gross lees in old French oak puncheons. The wine was bottled in December 2024. Critic notes on the 2024 release also reference fruit from both the 1922 and 1955 plantings, picked and fermented separately five days apart, with production of just 1,281 bottles.
Cellared Says
This is exactly the kind of Grenache that is hard to leave alone: fragrant, fine-boned and beautifully detailed, but with enough tannin and site definition to make cellaring worthwhile. For those who like McLaren Vale Grenache with perfume and shape rather than sheer sweetness, this is very much the ticket.
Reviews
97 points, Erin Larkin, Wine Advocate — from the 1922 and 1955 plantings, with 63% whole bunches, three to four weeks on skins and old puncheon élevage; described as a “super wine.”
96 points, The Wine Front — precise, textural and stony, with red fruit, spice and a superb finish.
95 points, Huon Hooke, The Real Review — more structured and substantial than the regular Grenache, with savoury, mineral complexity and depth.
Image 1 of 1
