2022 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
Another excellent wine from an idiosyncratic address. An address responsible for a suite of intriguing wines unlike anywhere else in the country. Akin to a Mediterranean Bordeaux with a stiff upper lip of tannins set in relief against iodine, black currant and pencil shavings. Lavender, liquorice strap, purple florals and boysenberry at its core. The wines of Provence's Alpilles are the clear source of inspiration here, from Hauvette to Trevallon. While Australians may not believe it, the tradition of blending Syrah and Cabernet in those parts is as long as it is here. Another fine expression built for the cellar.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale
A full weighted spicy wine, with a welcome absence of obvious fruit in exchange for girth, grit and a sense of soul. Lavender, black olive, lilac, aniseed, rose hip and kirsch, melding with a ferrous twang to conclude. Very Provencal of feel. More accurate, perhaps, Languedocienne. Despite the herbal pot pourri, there is nothing drying about this. The tannins, a long limbed arc, lithe and refined, draw the wine's warmth into a bosom of tension. An immensely savoury wine of beguiling Mediterranean scents and textures. This should age very well. Bravo !
96/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Provencale
A slightly rustic full weighted wine of immense character, gritty astringent bones and a spicy personality, far from anything typically Australian. Indeed I would never recognise this as a New World wine given the carnal burr of ironstone, clove, iodine and smoked meat. The tannins, slightly unyielding and salty. A whiff of volatility serves to tow juniper, tapenade and dried bracken notes to good lingering length. An outlier in the very best sense.
93/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Blanc
Viognier's aromas of apricot pith, ginger, hessian, bees wax and dried tatami straw. Mid weighted palate defined by a gentle viscosity melding with quince skin phenolics and a cuddle of vanillan oak. A wine built with texture, over obvious fruit, in mind.
92/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Deuxieme
A wine that opens with camphor and a ferrous earthiness. The fruit seems more advanced than the wine's age suggests. Otherwise, full weighted, nicely expansive and softer of feel, befitting a wine to drink on the earlier side. Replete with a scruff of thyme, a jolt of volatility and a waft of dried cherry across the finish, there is ample personality to enjoy.
88?/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
A fine nose of woodsmoke, blood plum, dried red currant, Mediterranean herb, tobacco and iodine. Beautifully architected with a bulwark of subtle oak married to a sinuous tannic frame. A medium bodied savoury expression, evocative of the great wines of the Provencale Alpilles. Think Trevallon with a bit more fruit. A bundle of superb tension and generosity, holding great promise for the cellar.
94/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [November 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale
Grenache dominance, with backing vocals of Syrah, Mourvedre and Carignan, among others. A pot pourri of pithy macerated cherry, clove, cardamom and dusty, dried tamarind to tumeric allusions of the Moroccan souk, beguiling and complete. A skein of maritime acidity finds confluence with sinewy tannins, doused in herb, carrying impressive length. A wine born of an exceptional vintage.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [November 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Provencale
A mid ruby, medium weighted and savoury expression, this feels more typically Australian than usual. Still the sinewy broomstick tannins, ferrous edges, terracotta warmth and herbal cladding define an every intriguing cuvee' dominated by Mourvedre. Chinotto, eucalyptus, bay leaf, charcuterie and satsuma plum, with a swab of tomato bush. The saline acidity, gentle but palpable, parries an impressive finish.
92/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [November 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
90/10% Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon; about 30% whole bunches with extended time on skins, between 30 - 40 days; basket pressed to two - four year old oak for 15 months maturation. This is a perfumed expression, the leafiness of the Cabernet merging with the whole bunches in the Syrah to leave an autumnal impression, with twiggy and mulchy leaf notes - an almost sous bois pinosity, if you will - along with graphite, cassis, salumi, sour cherry and garrigue-like herbals. Medium in feel but with depth of fruit, this is a thoroughly individual, idiosyncratic even expression of the region.
93/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [April 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale Rouge
60/20/10/10% Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah/Cinsaut; about 30% whole bunches, with extended time on skins, between 30 - 40 days; basket pressed to two - four year old oak for 15 months maturation. This is a juicy, open knit expression with berry compote, raspberry pastille, poached rhubarb, white pepper, clove, and an orange peel amaro note. It's appealingly supple, textural and ready to go.
90/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [August 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
65/10/10/10/5% Mourvedre/Grenache/Carignan/Morrastel/Cinsaut.
Bandol inspired, presumably, this naturally leans more into the expressiveness of its locale. That is the point, of course: a Blewitt Springs lens on a French classic. There's ripeness but keen balance too. Brambly, briary notes, berry compote, mint, laurel, white pepper, blueberry, a little violet. Whole bunch and old oak round off fruitfulness well, while not distracting from purity of expression.
93/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [August 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Blanc
A blend of 80/10/10% Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne. Whole bunch pressed to 228L oak, 25% new, four months elevage. From McLaren Vale but labelled as Fleurieu as a point of distinction, or separation. The stated intent is to marry the 'texture' of France and the 'opulence' of Australia throughout the range. This certainly has plenty of intensity, with golden orchard fruit, raw quince and citrus, though it is not a juicy or fruity expression, pleasingly leaning more to the savoury. The texture and weight are well pitched, though the oak is cresting a little at present.
89/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [August 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
45/30/15/15% Mourvedre/ Carignan/Cinsaut/Grenache. Labelled Provencale, this is somewhat removed from the dominant rose' model of Provence. The red berries and orange skinned citrus notes are there, but the savouriness is dialled up, with older oak playing a part in that, eschewing the easy appeal for something more serious. Dried thyme, white pepper and a subtle earthiness reinforce that direction, as does assertive dryness, though it is paired with thoughtful texture.
91/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [February 2024]
2020 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
A Southern Rhone style blend (with an Iberian inflection) of
65/10/10/5/5/5% Mourvedre/Cinsaut/Carignan/Grenache/Morrastel/Counoise. Excellent ! For Rhone lovers, I dare you to place this in a line up of Vacqueyras, Gigondas, or Cairanne and differentiate what's what ! Smoked meats, camphor, and succulent red fruits, doused in thyme and lavender, to the extent that there is no extraneous sweetness. A wine made by somebody who has worked in bastions of quality, intuitively dabbing, appropriating and melding these righteous varieties with structure over fruit in mind. Excellent wine at a ridiculous price.
Atypically Australian in the most beautiful way.
96/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [March 2023]
2020 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
There is a drive here to make herb-doused wines that glimpse fruit, as opposed to being saturated with it. Unpatriotic, in the most refreshing sense. Made by a dude who has worked in the Rhone or Provence, surely.
Akin to the great many wines of the Alpilles, France, that meld Cabernet with Syrah, challenging the notion that such a blend is an Aussie original. This is delicious. Smoked meat, sapid sour cherry, dried thyme, lavender, rosemary, sage and a smear of olive encased in the most effortless savoury guise. Mercifully, no eucalyptus. Rhone a l'Australienne.
This would be very hard to discern in a blind line up of Provencale greats.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [March 2023]
2020 Thomas St Vincent Deuxieme
A thoroughly fidelitious Southern Rhone blend, rather than any effete GSM
branding of 55/20/10/10/5% Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah/Cinsaut/Counoise.
Hand harvested, and fermented wild with portions of whole bunches included. Oxidative, with a whiff of aldehyde, punctuating red cherry, sour orange zest, dried thyme, and a little leaf.
A savoury wine with loads of personality.
89/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [March 2023]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
45/25/25/5% Mourvedre/Cinsaut/Grenache/Syrah. This hits the right colour zone, unravelling across tangy rails to riff on rosehip, musk stick, tangerine, and dried herb. Nicely saline, extremely dry and long, with pulse and nice weight. As restrained as this is, it is far from anodyne or flavourless. Good drinking rose'. Drink through 2022.
90/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [November 2021]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Blanc
75/15/10% Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne. I like this, as it billows across the palate with a saline, full weighted self-assuredness. Textural, multi-layered and versatile, speaking more of the Southern Rhone than most. Super savoury sans any obvious fruit references. A wine to feel, put with food and simply let be. Far more reliant on phenolics than acidity. Dried hay, quince, lemon balm, orange bitters. This will age nicely across the mid term.
Drink now to 2027.
93/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [November 2021]
2019 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
A Mourvedre dominated blend inspired by the wilds of the Southern Rhone. More accurately, around Bandol. Australian sweetness of fruit mopped up by the ferrous, tobacco doused leathery tannins of the grape. Meat stock, pepper, clove, lapsang, tamarind, sandalwood, and an attractive smokiness. A lovely point to be released, with the whiff of time encroaching in the best sense. Delicious ! As with all these wines, I'd like the acidity to be more in tune with the rugged intuitions of the blend.This said, immensely satisfying.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [November 2021]
2016 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
Blueberry and bitumen,plum and cloves, graphite too, florals, dry liquorice. It's a bit too boozy but weight, complexity and x-factor are most definitely on its side. This is a pretty classy red. It delivers fruit and it promotes savouriness. It's a hot black road of a wine and it takes you places. Tannin is webbed and fine. And for all its might and warmth it remains fresh. It's been deftly made, if not deftly picked.
93/100 - Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front [August 2019]
2016 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
Sturdy, clean, characterful and warm. It feels both meticulous and hefty. Musk sticks, chalk, dark berries, asphalt and a rusty earthen character. Dry red soil with lolly powder sprinkled over. Alcohol intrudes or plays a key role but otherwise it's exemplary. Drink 2020 - 2030.
92/100 - Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front [August 2019]
2016 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
This deeply coloured blend is nigh on identical to its '17 sibling, but the wine is massively different, the fruit deep, rich and assertive. It has some newer oak, and this will join hands with the fruit through the next decade.
Drink now - 2036.
95/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2017 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
The winemaking varies somewhat from year to year, but is fundamentally the same. Gary Thomas finds most of his wines from this vintage lack concentration and complexity. I'm sitting on the fence - points for elegance.
Drink now - 2027.
92/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2017 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale Rouge
Excellent colour. It's lighter than the '18s and shows most on the mid palate with bright, small berry fruits before a savoury finish. Drink now - 2027.
95/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2017 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
Gary Thomas is a hard task master when he comments that in this cooler year the wine lacks concentration and complexity. Elegance is a word that might be equally applicable. Either way, the wine will grow another leg over the next 3 - 5 years. Drink now - 2027.
94/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
The pale salmon colour gives no warning of the power and grip of the wine, nor of the war dance between the fruit components on the one hand and savoury earthy notes on the other. Extremely aromatic.
Drink now - 2021.
95/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2019 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
A blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsaut and Counoise. Pale pink.
It's a pretty wine. With rose petals, crab apple and bath powder aromas.
It offers all sorts of flavours, with fruit skins as important as fruit flesh.
Drink now - 2021.
94/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
A well balanced outcome for the vintage. 90% Syrah and 10% Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon matured in used oak. A relaxed and elegant wine, fresh and generous.
Drink now - 2028.
94/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale Rouge
70% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 5% Cinsaut.
Ripe fruit is the driver of complexity.
Thomas St Vincent sees a better balanced year of acid/tannin/alcohol/fruit weight. But maybe there's something in the bouquet that detracts.
Drink now - 2026.
89/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
Red and purple fruits open proceedings and the complex blend
(Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Counoise, Morrastel-aka Graciano)
flows well across the palate, the fruit gently but insistently dominant, savoury notes in the background important for texture.
Drink now - 2033
93/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
Another excellent wine from an idiosyncratic address. An address responsible for a suite of intriguing wines unlike anywhere else in the country. Akin to a Mediterranean Bordeaux with a stiff upper lip of tannins set in relief against iodine, black currant and pencil shavings. Lavender, liquorice strap, purple florals and boysenberry at its core. The wines of Provence's Alpilles are the clear source of inspiration here, from Hauvette to Trevallon. While Australians may not believe it, the tradition of blending Syrah and Cabernet in those parts is as long as it is here. Another fine expression built for the cellar.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale
A full weighted spicy wine, with a welcome absence of obvious fruit in exchange for girth, grit and a sense of soul. Lavender, black olive, lilac, aniseed, rose hip and kirsch, melding with a ferrous twang to conclude. Very Provencal of feel. More accurate, perhaps, Languedocienne. Despite the herbal pot pourri, there is nothing drying about this. The tannins, a long limbed arc, lithe and refined, draw the wine's warmth into a bosom of tension. An immensely savoury wine of beguiling Mediterranean scents and textures. This should age very well. Bravo !
96/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Provencale
A slightly rustic full weighted wine of immense character, gritty astringent bones and a spicy personality, far from anything typically Australian. Indeed I would never recognise this as a New World wine given the carnal burr of ironstone, clove, iodine and smoked meat. The tannins, slightly unyielding and salty. A whiff of volatility serves to tow juniper, tapenade and dried bracken notes to good lingering length. An outlier in the very best sense.
93/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Blanc
Viognier's aromas of apricot pith, ginger, hessian, bees wax and dried tatami straw. Mid weighted palate defined by a gentle viscosity melding with quince skin phenolics and a cuddle of vanillan oak. A wine built with texture, over obvious fruit, in mind.
92/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Deuxieme
A wine that opens with camphor and a ferrous earthiness. The fruit seems more advanced than the wine's age suggests. Otherwise, full weighted, nicely expansive and softer of feel, befitting a wine to drink on the earlier side. Replete with a scruff of thyme, a jolt of volatility and a waft of dried cherry across the finish, there is ample personality to enjoy.
88?/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [September 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
A fine nose of woodsmoke, blood plum, dried red currant, Mediterranean herb, tobacco and iodine. Beautifully architected with a bulwark of subtle oak married to a sinuous tannic frame. A medium bodied savoury expression, evocative of the great wines of the Provencale Alpilles. Think Trevallon with a bit more fruit. A bundle of superb tension and generosity, holding great promise for the cellar.
94/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [November 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale
Grenache dominance, with backing vocals of Syrah, Mourvedre and Carignan, among others. A pot pourri of pithy macerated cherry, clove, cardamom and dusty, dried tamarind to tumeric allusions of the Moroccan souk, beguiling and complete. A skein of maritime acidity finds confluence with sinewy tannins, doused in herb, carrying impressive length. A wine born of an exceptional vintage.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [November 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Provencale
A mid ruby, medium weighted and savoury expression, this feels more typically Australian than usual. Still the sinewy broomstick tannins, ferrous edges, terracotta warmth and herbal cladding define an every intriguing cuvee' dominated by Mourvedre. Chinotto, eucalyptus, bay leaf, charcuterie and satsuma plum, with a swab of tomato bush. The saline acidity, gentle but palpable, parries an impressive finish.
92/100 - Ned Goodwin MW [November 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
90/10% Syrah/Cabernet Sauvignon; about 30% whole bunches with extended time on skins, between 30 - 40 days; basket pressed to two - four year old oak for 15 months maturation. This is a perfumed expression, the leafiness of the Cabernet merging with the whole bunches in the Syrah to leave an autumnal impression, with twiggy and mulchy leaf notes - an almost sous bois pinosity, if you will - along with graphite, cassis, salumi, sour cherry and garrigue-like herbals. Medium in feel but with depth of fruit, this is a thoroughly individual, idiosyncratic even expression of the region.
93/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [April 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale Rouge
60/20/10/10% Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah/Cinsaut; about 30% whole bunches, with extended time on skins, between 30 - 40 days; basket pressed to two - four year old oak for 15 months maturation. This is a juicy, open knit expression with berry compote, raspberry pastille, poached rhubarb, white pepper, clove, and an orange peel amaro note. It's appealingly supple, textural and ready to go.
90/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [August 2024]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
65/10/10/10/5% Mourvedre/Grenache/Carignan/Morrastel/Cinsaut.
Bandol inspired, presumably, this naturally leans more into the expressiveness of its locale. That is the point, of course: a Blewitt Springs lens on a French classic. There's ripeness but keen balance too. Brambly, briary notes, berry compote, mint, laurel, white pepper, blueberry, a little violet. Whole bunch and old oak round off fruitfulness well, while not distracting from purity of expression.
93/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [August 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Blanc
A blend of 80/10/10% Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne. Whole bunch pressed to 228L oak, 25% new, four months elevage. From McLaren Vale but labelled as Fleurieu as a point of distinction, or separation. The stated intent is to marry the 'texture' of France and the 'opulence' of Australia throughout the range. This certainly has plenty of intensity, with golden orchard fruit, raw quince and citrus, though it is not a juicy or fruity expression, pleasingly leaning more to the savoury. The texture and weight are well pitched, though the oak is cresting a little at present.
89/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [August 2024]
2022 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
45/30/15/15% Mourvedre/ Carignan/Cinsaut/Grenache. Labelled Provencale, this is somewhat removed from the dominant rose' model of Provence. The red berries and orange skinned citrus notes are there, but the savouriness is dialled up, with older oak playing a part in that, eschewing the easy appeal for something more serious. Dried thyme, white pepper and a subtle earthiness reinforce that direction, as does assertive dryness, though it is paired with thoughtful texture.
91/100 - Marcus Ellis - The Wine Companion [February 2024]
2020 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
A Southern Rhone style blend (with an Iberian inflection) of
65/10/10/5/5/5% Mourvedre/Cinsaut/Carignan/Grenache/Morrastel/Counoise. Excellent ! For Rhone lovers, I dare you to place this in a line up of Vacqueyras, Gigondas, or Cairanne and differentiate what's what ! Smoked meats, camphor, and succulent red fruits, doused in thyme and lavender, to the extent that there is no extraneous sweetness. A wine made by somebody who has worked in bastions of quality, intuitively dabbing, appropriating and melding these righteous varieties with structure over fruit in mind. Excellent wine at a ridiculous price.
Atypically Australian in the most beautiful way.
96/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [March 2023]
2020 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
There is a drive here to make herb-doused wines that glimpse fruit, as opposed to being saturated with it. Unpatriotic, in the most refreshing sense. Made by a dude who has worked in the Rhone or Provence, surely.
Akin to the great many wines of the Alpilles, France, that meld Cabernet with Syrah, challenging the notion that such a blend is an Aussie original. This is delicious. Smoked meat, sapid sour cherry, dried thyme, lavender, rosemary, sage and a smear of olive encased in the most effortless savoury guise. Mercifully, no eucalyptus. Rhone a l'Australienne.
This would be very hard to discern in a blind line up of Provencale greats.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [March 2023]
2020 Thomas St Vincent Deuxieme
A thoroughly fidelitious Southern Rhone blend, rather than any effete GSM
branding of 55/20/10/10/5% Grenache/Mourvedre/Syrah/Cinsaut/Counoise.
Hand harvested, and fermented wild with portions of whole bunches included. Oxidative, with a whiff of aldehyde, punctuating red cherry, sour orange zest, dried thyme, and a little leaf.
A savoury wine with loads of personality.
89/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [March 2023]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
45/25/25/5% Mourvedre/Cinsaut/Grenache/Syrah. This hits the right colour zone, unravelling across tangy rails to riff on rosehip, musk stick, tangerine, and dried herb. Nicely saline, extremely dry and long, with pulse and nice weight. As restrained as this is, it is far from anodyne or flavourless. Good drinking rose'. Drink through 2022.
90/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [November 2021]
2021 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Blanc
75/15/10% Viognier/Marsanne/Roussanne. I like this, as it billows across the palate with a saline, full weighted self-assuredness. Textural, multi-layered and versatile, speaking more of the Southern Rhone than most. Super savoury sans any obvious fruit references. A wine to feel, put with food and simply let be. Far more reliant on phenolics than acidity. Dried hay, quince, lemon balm, orange bitters. This will age nicely across the mid term.
Drink now to 2027.
93/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [November 2021]
2019 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
A Mourvedre dominated blend inspired by the wilds of the Southern Rhone. More accurately, around Bandol. Australian sweetness of fruit mopped up by the ferrous, tobacco doused leathery tannins of the grape. Meat stock, pepper, clove, lapsang, tamarind, sandalwood, and an attractive smokiness. A lovely point to be released, with the whiff of time encroaching in the best sense. Delicious ! As with all these wines, I'd like the acidity to be more in tune with the rugged intuitions of the blend.This said, immensely satisfying.
95/100 - Ned Goodwin MW - The Wine Companion [November 2021]
2016 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
Blueberry and bitumen,plum and cloves, graphite too, florals, dry liquorice. It's a bit too boozy but weight, complexity and x-factor are most definitely on its side. This is a pretty classy red. It delivers fruit and it promotes savouriness. It's a hot black road of a wine and it takes you places. Tannin is webbed and fine. And for all its might and warmth it remains fresh. It's been deftly made, if not deftly picked.
93/100 - Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front [August 2019]
2016 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
Sturdy, clean, characterful and warm. It feels both meticulous and hefty. Musk sticks, chalk, dark berries, asphalt and a rusty earthen character. Dry red soil with lolly powder sprinkled over. Alcohol intrudes or plays a key role but otherwise it's exemplary. Drink 2020 - 2030.
92/100 - Campbell Mattinson - The Wine Front [August 2019]
2016 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
This deeply coloured blend is nigh on identical to its '17 sibling, but the wine is massively different, the fruit deep, rich and assertive. It has some newer oak, and this will join hands with the fruit through the next decade.
Drink now - 2036.
95/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2017 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
The winemaking varies somewhat from year to year, but is fundamentally the same. Gary Thomas finds most of his wines from this vintage lack concentration and complexity. I'm sitting on the fence - points for elegance.
Drink now - 2027.
92/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2017 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale Rouge
Excellent colour. It's lighter than the '18s and shows most on the mid palate with bright, small berry fruits before a savoury finish. Drink now - 2027.
95/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2017 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
Gary Thomas is a hard task master when he comments that in this cooler year the wine lacks concentration and complexity. Elegance is a word that might be equally applicable. Either way, the wine will grow another leg over the next 3 - 5 years. Drink now - 2027.
94/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
The pale salmon colour gives no warning of the power and grip of the wine, nor of the war dance between the fruit components on the one hand and savoury earthy notes on the other. Extremely aromatic.
Drink now - 2021.
95/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [February 2020]
2019 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rose'
A blend of Mourvedre, Grenache, Cinsaut and Counoise. Pale pink.
It's a pretty wine. With rose petals, crab apple and bath powder aromas.
It offers all sorts of flavours, with fruit skins as important as fruit flesh.
Drink now - 2021.
94/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Septentrionale Rouge
A well balanced outcome for the vintage. 90% Syrah and 10% Old Vine Cabernet Sauvignon matured in used oak. A relaxed and elegant wine, fresh and generous.
Drink now - 2028.
94/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Meridionale Rouge
70% Grenache, 15% Mourvedre, 10% Syrah, 5% Cinsaut.
Ripe fruit is the driver of complexity.
Thomas St Vincent sees a better balanced year of acid/tannin/alcohol/fruit weight. But maybe there's something in the bouquet that detracts.
Drink now - 2026.
89/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]
2018 Thomas St Vincent Provencale Rouge
Red and purple fruits open proceedings and the complex blend
(Mourvedre, Grenache, Syrah, Carignan, Counoise, Morrastel-aka Graciano)
flows well across the palate, the fruit gently but insistently dominant, savoury notes in the background important for texture.
Drink now - 2033
93/100 - James Halliday - The Wine Companion [August 2020]