GRENACHE is an important grape variety in many different regions, but particularly France (in the Southern part of the Rhone Valley, and in the South West), Spain (where it is called Garnacha and is the most widely planted red grape variety) and Australia. It can be very successful as a single varietal wine, but the grape’s inherently lower tannins and sweet-fruited nature can lead to overly confected fruit flavours and so it’s a variety that’s often blended. Syrah (Shiraz) and Mourvedre (Monastrell) are its usual bed-fellows. In Australia these wines are often referred to as GSMs.
Grenache likes a hot climate and as far as I knew there wasn’t any being grown here, so I got all excited this week when Villa Maria released their first ever Grenache. New Zealand Grenache?? I’m pretty sure it’s a first. I had planned to line up a range of comparably priced Grenache or Grenache dominant wines from France, Spain and Australia, but I just couldn’t wait. I did open an old favourite, though, a Bethany Old Vine Grenache 06 from the Barossa. This retails for less than half the price of the Villa Maria, so it’s not really apples with apples, but it did make a useful comparison.
The Villa Maria Reserve Grenache 2007 is not a cheap wine, but there are good reasons for this. The amount of effort put into getting the grapes fully ripe must have been stupendous. They’ve also spared no expense both in the vineyard and in the winery, and they’ve given it plenty of time to mature in the bottle before releasing it. The nose is a little tight at first, but I think it will become more generous with time. It certainly started to open up over the three days I managed to restrain myself and eke the wine out. There’s plenty of the trademark raspberry fruit, spice and violets that I expect to see in Grenache, and also a fair amount of black pepper. On the palate, the tannins were well extracted, giving a nice frame for the raspberry and blackberry fruit and a mocha note I detected. I was a little surprised by the amount of black pepper and mocha in the wine until I read the technical notes and found that a portion of Syrah and Malbec had been blended in. I really like this wine, and hope they manage to produce this again in subsequent years. $59.90
To get an idea of what Grenache is about, try the Bethany Old Vine Grenache 2006. This is a lovely example of Aussie Grenache, produced from old vines which show some extra complexity. There are florals of dusky rose petals and violets mingling with spicy raspberry fruit on the nose. Supple in the mouth, this reminds me of a bowlful of raspberries and blackberries topped with cinnamon and vanilla -laced cream and a sprinkle of dusty cocoa.  Great value! $24.50