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Halliday Wine Companion
April/May 2017 Issue

2015 The Hundred Grenache, Blewitt Springs

"Bright red in the glass, it has floral aromatics of a spring rose garden with spice and red fruit that jump out of the glass. The palate is luscious with a generosity of fruits, from strawberry to a hint of cinnamon, harnessed by fine, sandy tannins. It drinks perfectly with slow-roasted lamb shoulder. Enjoy from now until 2025."

James Halliday Wine Companion Magazine
April/May 2017 Issue

In this month's issue of the Halliday Wine Companion, Willunga 100 is featured in the McLaren Vale special. Here's the article:

What’s special about your part of McLaren Vale?

Blewitt Springs offers some of the most amazing views in McLaren Vale. The rolling slopes planted with bush-vine Grenache in distinctive, ancient sandy soils provide a stunning panorama of the Gulf St Vincent, while a drive from nearby Onkaparinga River National Park down to McLaren Vale quickly illustrates just how geographically diverse the region is.

Do you have an insider tip for visitors?

The ever-changing seasonal menu at The Salopian Inn always offers a great food match with our The Hundred Grenache, and washing down fish and chips with rose at The Victory Hotel is a must for any visitor.

Which wine styles are central to what you do?

We specialise in Grenache. The styles of Grenache in McLaren Vale vary significantly from sub-zone to sub-zone. With our signature wine, The Hundred, we aim to show the diversity of Grenache from Blewitt Springs by bottling early with zero oak influence, allowing the brightness of the fruit to shine through.

Our 2015 The Hundred Grenache from Blewitt Springs has done it again, it just received the Trophy for Best Other Variety at the 2016 National Wine Show. To date it has the following awards tucked under it's cap:

• Trophy, Best Other Variety, National Wine Show

• Trophy, Best Grenache, McLaren Vale Wine Show

• Trophy, Best One year Old Grenache, McLaren Vale Wine Show

• Gold, National Wine Show

• Gold, McLaren Vale Wine Show

• Gold, Royal Adelaide Wine Show

• 91 Points, The Wine Front

Beautifully coloured with floral aromas, a luscious palate and fine, sandy tannins. It pairs well with slow roasted lamb and will age nicely until 2025.

Willunga 100 had a very successful few weeks winning back-to-back awards at both the Royal Adelaide Wine Show and the McLaren Vale Wine Show. We love what we do so to receive awards such as these is the cherry on top.

Here's a list of the winners:

2015 The Hundred Grenache, Blewitt Springs
Best one year old Grenache, McLaren Vale Wine Show 2016
Best Grenache, McLaren Vale Wine Show 2016
Gold Medal, Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2016

2015 The Hundred Grenache, Clarendon
Gold Medal, McLaren Vale Wine Show 2016

2015 Tempranillo
Gold Medal, McLaren Vale Wine Show 2016

2016 Rose
Gold Medal, Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2016

The 2017 Halliday Wine Companion is out and we're pleased to say Willunga 100 has again hit all the right notes. Master reviewer, James Halliday has reissued our five star status for another year saying "The Winemaking team these days is decidedly high-powered, with the hugely experienced Tim James and Mike Farmilo the conductors of the band. The focus is on the diverse districts within McLaren Vale, and the resource of dry grown bushvine Grenache."

All of the wines reviewed were scored in the nineties and received comments such as "the savoury tannin structure is something to behold", "its vibrant acidity the key to its rare quality" and "with rare drive and grip that only McLaren Vale can produce".

View the full review here.

Renowned UK critic and Grenache enthusiast Matthew Jukes has been a long-time fan of the Willunga 100 range. This year marks the second in a row that our Cabernet Shiraz has been included in his 100 Best Australian Wines report.

In addition, he has just included Willunga 100 McLaren Vale Grenache as one of his Top 100 Red Wines for Summer in The Daily Mail Weekend Magazine. He commented:

"One of the juiciest, most enthralling wines of the moment, this has an explosion of pipe smoke, rhubarb and mulberry pie scents on the nose (I’m not joking!) and a creamy, succulent palate. It could charm even the most hard-to-please wine lovers.”

We have enjoyed great success on this year’s show circuit and are very happy to share the news that two Willunga 100 wines have just won trophies at the prestigious McLaren Vale Wine Show. Our Cabernet Shiraz 2014 was awarded the trophy for Best McLaren Vale Cabernet Predominant Blend, while ‘The Hundred’ Grenache 2014 scooped the Best McLaren Vale Grenache trophy.

With judges including James Halliday and Huon Hooke, the McLaren Vale Wine Show’s mission is to “provide a vehicle for presenting McLaren Vale wines to ensure that the excellence of the varieties, viticulture, production, provenance and sub-regionality are celebrated” and we are thrilled that our wines have been recognised at the highest level on all these counts. Given the region’s reputation for producing Australia’s best Grenache, this particular category was, unsurprisingly, the most competitive at the Show…so for ‘The Hundred’ to be named top Grenache in McLaren Vale is a remarkable achievement.

The full list of our awards from this year’s show season is testament to the quality of our wines from the 2014 vintage:

2014 ‘The Hundred’ Grenache
Trophy for the Best McLaren Vale Grenache (McLaren Vale Wine Show 2015)

2014 Cabernet Shiraz
Trophy for the Best McLaren Vale Cabernet Predominant Blend (McLaren Vale Wine Show 2015)

2014 Tempranillo
Trophy for the Best Tempranillo of Show (Winewise Awards 2015)

2014 Grenache
Gold Medal (Winewise Awards 2015)

2014 Shiraz Viognier
Top Gold of its Class (Royal Adelaide Wine Show 2015)

2013 Shiraz Viognier
Gold Medal (New Zealand International Wine Show 2015)

2013 Cabernet Shiraz
Gold Medal (New Zealand International Wine Show 2015)

For more information about the McLaren Vale Wine Show and to see the full list of winners, visit http://mclarenvale.info/wine/wine-show/results/.

We are delighted to announce that Willunga 100 2014 Shiraz Viognier won a Gold Medal at the 2015 Royal Adelaide Wine Show. With 18.5 points, the Shiraz Viognier was the top-scorer in its category.

The Royal Adelaide Wine Show is one of Australia’s pre-eminent wine shows, with all wines judged blind across four days by the panel.