“You’re a member of the ‘Rhône Ranger’ band.  Your groupies think you’re ‘hot’, even when you’re boozy and “strung out”.  You’re hairy, yet they want you, and you’re always a willing partner.  Is it your Spanish heritage that makes them crazy?  Perhaps, but really it’s because you have a rather sweet personality.  Grenache, you’re the most famous backup guitarist, playing a lightly tannic beat in some of the better groups”.

While this little ditty may seem somewhat nonsensical, it does state the problem associated with Grenache or Garnacha as it is called in Spain.  The most-widely planted red grape in the world, much of it grown on the vast central plain of La Mancha in Spain, it is a late ripening variety ideally grown in regions that have a long growing season with hot, dry conditions.

It is a hairy-leafed grapevine which produces fruit that has a naturally high sugar content thereby producing wines with high alcohol but by and large lacks some of the necessary acid, tannin and colour so it is usually blended with other varieties and herein lays one of the problems.  In a wine world were single varieties are dominating wine labels Grenache rarely appears by itself.

Although it is occasionally produced as a 100% varietal wine, particularly from old vine plantings in Spain’s north-eastern region, Australia and in California, it is, on the whole, used to “fill out” red blends and soften harsher partners, such as Syrah and Carignan.  Generally Grenache makes fleshy, heady, very fruity wines best consumed in their youth because they tend to age rapidly, showing tawny colours and are prone to oxidation or maderization after only a relatively short time in bottle.

Grenache may have originated in Spain, probably in the northeast region of Aragon but has since spread over the Pyrenees into southern France and throughout the rest of the Mediterranean.  In Sardinia, which has claimed that the variety originated there, it is called Cannonau.  This statement could imply that it is really from Sardinia and was imported to Spain when Sardinia was under Aragón rule during the late 13th to 15th century.

In the south of France, it is the prevailing variety in most Southern Rhône wines, especially in Châteauneuf-du-Pape where it can comprise over 80% of the blend.  Here the plantings of Grenache have reached over 200,000 acres making it the third most planted variety after Carignan and Ugni Blanc.  These plantings are divided between two groups, the Provençal group, which are in the eastern regions of Vaucluse, Drôme, Var and Bouches-du-Rhône; and the Languedoc group in the west which includes the departments of Gard, Pyrénées-Orientales, Hérault, Aude and Ardeche. In Australia it is usually blended into “GSM” blends with Syrah and Mourvèdre.

The epidemic, phylloxera, which devastated the vineyards of Europe in the late 19th century, indirectly increased the plantings of Grenache.  In Rioja for example, vineyards were replanted not with the native varietals that were destroyed but with the hardy, easy to graft Grenache.  A similar trend occurred in southern France, as the percentage of Grenache plantings increased significantly after phylloxera, replacing the previously abundant Mourvèdre.

In the new world, Grenache is picking up steam with successful plantings in Australia, California and even some trial plantings here in BC.

Australia has extensive plantings of Grenache, some going back over 100 years and has been very successful making full-bodied 100% varietal and Grenache-dominated red blends.  However, while it has a long history in Australia, it is only over the past decade or so that the variety has started to receive the recognition that it deserves.

In California, the plantings have dwindled to just over 6000 acres as its use in cheap table wines waned and huge plantings, mostly in the San Joaquin Valley, were cut away.

Traditionally, it was mostly planted in the warm Central Valley, intended to produce fruity, quaffable reds and pinks, but with the emergence of Rhône blends, enthusiastically promoted by a band of winemakers known as the ‘Rhone Rangers’, it has begun an increase in plantings in some of the better-known California viticultural zones.

In BC, the grape is so new that there are only about 4½ acres planted and there is very little wine produced.

Grenache Picks:

The big brother of the bargain-priced Monseran, the 2007 ‘Old Vine’ Castillo de Monseran ($16) continues to prove why Spanish wines are on the upswing.  Produced from low yielding, 50 year old Grenache vines, this wine is loaded with youthful, fresh aromas of jammy black cherry, black raspberry, sweet licorice and creamy vanilla-scented oak with hints of baked earth, dried herbs and forest floor.  The soft, juicy black and red fruit flavours coats the palate with a lush, full-bodied texture followed by soft acidity, firm, lip-smacking tannins and a long, deep finish.  Excellent with a mild Manchego.

One of the finest Rhone wines I have tried in years, the 2010 Chateau Pesquie ‘Les Terrasses’ Cotes Du Ventoux ($21) continues a string of fabulous vintages for this winery interrupted by the horrendous 2002.  Incredible bang-for-your-buck (QPR), this dense purple coloured wine is a blend of 70% Grenache and 30% Syrah with some traces of Carignan and Cinsault. Look for intense aromas of blackberry, black plum, cassis liqueur, Asian spice, licorice, and baked earth.  Full-bodied and opulent, with amazing structure, and tremendous texture, this high-class, serious Cotes du Ventoux is ready to drink now yet possesses all the stuffing needed to age (possibly improve) for 4-6 years.  Amazing stuff.

A spectacular Grenache blend from Australia, the 2007 Penfolds Bin 138 ($40) is a mix of Grenache (64%), Mourvedre (21%) and Shiraz (15%), aged for 15 months in 5 year old hogsheads and blended just prior to bottling.  A huge wine for the price, this is loaded with fragrant aromas of sweet raspberry, kirsch, strawberries, spice box, leather and smoke.  The palate is well structured with its rich flavours of black and red fruits, spice, garrigue, soft acidity and firm tannins.  This is not a typical Aussie fruit bomb but an elegant, refined wine.  Fantastic to enjoy now for the sheer pleasure of it but will reward with another 8-10 years of cellaring.