Australian Grenache: No more mister nice guy?
You could say Australian Grenache had its day in the sun. But now it’s back, maybe wanting a bit less sun and a lot more limelight. So, what’s changed, and how ready is this affable co-star to take centre stage?
Like most English folk of my generation, I grew up with Neighbours. The people physically next door to us were less familiar than the residents of Ramsay Street. I knew nice guy Mike Young well—liked him a lot and, had I thought about it, might have found it sad that he was destined to spend a lifetime hanging off Des and Daphne while Scott and Charlene buggered off to conquer the world.
So, I was surprised when Mike showed up in L.A. Confidential. Ensemble cast, mind you, but a powerhouse one that bagged a couple of Oscars. Still, that didn’t prepare me for what happened next. Guy Pearce, name up in lights, taking the lead in Christopher Nolan’s riveting head-spinner, Memento. Momentous.
Which brings us, obviously, to Grenache. How will it fare in the IMDb of wine? It’s racked up countless credits as an extra, soap star and all-star cast member. But does it have the range, depth and gravitas to be a box-office lead?
This Mediterranean native, first planted in Australia in the 1840s, once covered more of the earth’s surface than any other red wine grape. It had its heyday down under in the 20th century, fuelled by a thirst for fortified wines. It went out of favour as table wines became more popular and was a high-profile casualty of South Australia’s vine-pull scheme in the final quarter of the millennium. The 2000s didn’t start too brightly either, with Australian Grenache plantings declining between 2000 and 2010.
So there it was, the work not exactly drying up but not pouring in either. So, what’s it bringing to the audition process anyway?
Grenache Noir—Garnacha Tinta in its Spanish birthplace—is a high-yielding, late-ripening black grape, which means it needs plenty of warmth to ripen. Its hard wood and upright growth make it suitable to be trained as a bush vine, whose three-dimensional canopy gives shade to its thin skins.
It is drought-resistant—hence its identification as a sustainable grape in a warming climate— and dry, low-fertility soils do a good job of containing its natural vigour, giving lower yields of more intense, defined fruit.
Spinifex’s Rostein Vineyard in Eden Valley
It tends to accumulate high sugars as it matures, resulting in high alcohols. Its levels of tannin and acidity are generally seen to be on the lower side, but take that with a pinch of salt; the stereotype is based on picking riper grapes at higher yields—and, perhaps, gearing wines towards early drinking and simple, juicy pleasure.
Which brings us to the question of style. Grenache’s obvious strength is its fruitiness. This makes it a fantastic candidate for rosé, as exploited by European regions such as Navarra in Spain, Tavel in the Southern Rhône and, of course, Côtes de Provence. Australia, too, has tapped into this potential, with Grenache a go-to for many a maker of crisp, dry rosé, especially in Barossa and McLaren Vale. Spinifex from the former and Bondar from the latter, both featured below, are excellent exponents, while Turkey Flat has become a touchstone of the style.
As in the south of France, Grenache leads an ensemble cast in many of those rosés, with the soft, cherry-scented Cinsault often in the mix, potentially with punchier varieties such as Shiraz and Mourvèdre (often called Mataro in Australia) in the mix. This brings us to another oft-played role of Grenache: the Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre blend, a triple-bill that trips off the tongue with the acronym GSM.
At the everyday-drinking end, these are modelled on Côtes-du-Rhône, that hugely popular medium-bodied French bistro wine that accounts for about half the production of appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) wine from the Rhône Valley—which is, itself, the second-largest AOC-producing area in France after Bordeaux. In other words, mainstream in the extreme.
At the higher end, these GSM blends take their cue from the full-bodied, tannic, meaty, spicy, long-lived wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape. Barossa grandee Charles Melton’s Nine Popes, a clever riff on the place and style to which it pays tribute, has become something of an icon since it was first produced in 1988. Many similarly ambitious, full-blooded iterations have emerged over the years.
But back to Grenache’s solo career. That same fruity, easy-going charm has seen it cash in on the trend for low-tannin, lighter-bodied, chillable reds that seemed to catch fire about a decade ago. There was a time when the words “nouveau” (a nod to Beaujolais nouveau, a style of unoaked, straightforward, early-release, drink-young Gamay) and “joven” (Spanish for “young”, a labelling term for wines released without any specific ageing requirements) got splashed around with gay abandon. Grenache was never far from the action. Given Australia’s warm, thirst-inducing drinking conditions and barbecue culture, it’s hard to see this style going out of fashion. Like a solid soap star, Grenache stands to get plenty of work out of it. S.C. Pannell’s Basso Garnacha is one of my favourites in this genre.
What happens at the next level of the pyramid determines whether Australian Grenache is granted a place in the hall of fame. We’re scouting for that X-factor that allows it to command higher prices, demand a guaranteed spot on top wine lists and find a dedicated nook in the cellar.
In terms of numbers, Australia's not exactly crushing it. Grenache now makes up just 1.1% of the vineyard, compared to 29.5% for Shiraz. Barossa and McLaren Vale have the talent pool, but in the former, Grenache made up just 6% of the 2023 harvest, with McLaren Vale only one percentage point higher.
At the same time, some of our hottest talents are sharpening scripts with plum roles for the grape. One of those is Stephen Pannell, whose eyes had been opened to Grenache in the mid-'90s when he worked for Hardys in McLaren Vale. There was a time when Grenache—with its "power and intensity in a medium-bodied frame”— filled a Pinot-shaped void for Pannell, who'd previously worked with the Burgundy grape under Tim Knappstein in the Adelaide Hills. But as the 2004-founded S.C. Pannell label has matured, Pannell's perception of Grenache's potential has shifted from Pommard to Piedmont. Specifically, the aforementioned "frame" was no longer on the outer; it had become the driving force, as it is with Nebbiolo. You can read more about Pannell's ethos and progress here.
When Selina Kelly and Andre Bondar started out in McLaren Vale in 2013, they were likewise Pinot-lovers excited by Grenache's propensity to produce "really fragrant, pretty, lighter-bodied" reds. Their Rayner vineyard naturally produces a wine that is "soft in tannin, just lovely and vibrant." Even so, they work hard to eke out the layers the variety can give. The pleasing, juicy material goes to Junto, their GSM+ (a bit of Cinsault and Carignan find their way into it, too).
Andre Bondar and Selina Kelly
On the other hand, their single-vineyard Rayner wine (featured below) is almost a blueprint for boosting Grenache from soap star to red-carpet royalty. The vines face slightly east, a cooler aspect that catches the gentler morning sun. The slower ripening promises more complex flavours at lower alcohols. Old vines, associated with natural resilience and smaller yields, are part of the puzzle, too. These were planted in 1970 and, Selina says, "the bunches are smaller, the berries are smaller and we get more concentration of the flavours". And, in the low-rainfall Mediterranean climate of McLaren Vale, the block is dry-grown, another natural means of keeping yields down and encouraging the vine to work hard to ripen its fruit.
The Bondar team manage the canopy to get those flavours at lower sugar levels—more interest, less alcohol—and they harvest early. Selina loves the herbal lift and spice that early picking gives, as well as the tannin definition and fresh acidity, all of which offset Grenache's sweet juiciness. A component of bunches is included in the fermentations, and the wine spends extra time on skins, all in the name of dialling up tactile and aromatic complexity without making the wine louder.
The Rayner wine is as unforced as they come, and Andre has no intention of pushing it where it doesn’t want to go. Believing structure is key to even more rarefied expressions of Grenache, Bondar looks to make single-site expressions from vineyards predisposed to provide it. This took Selina and Andre to Sue Trott’s 1952 plantings on Wilpena Vineyard in Blewitt Springs for their 2022 Higher Springs cuvée.
That’s the name of the game for another relative young gun of Grenache, Mark Bulman. Bulman’s 2016 Turkey Flat was the first Grenache to win the coveted Jimmy Watson Memorial Trophy. Now, he’s released the first Aussie Grenaches under his own label. One is from Eden Valley, and the other is from McLaren Vale. Both are distinctive, early-picked, tannin-driven wines from special sites. He makes no secret of his ambition to see Australian Grenache share the stage with the world’s finest wines on a permanent basis. You can read more about that here.
Rob Mann
If you’re an A-lister, everyone wants a piece of you, and everyone can cite your best work. Whether you’re in California, Oregon, South Africa, New Zealand or Australia, any pocket cool enough to host the princely Pinot Noir will bend over backwards for it. Likewise, look at the vineyards that are household names: By Farr Sangreal, Bindi Block 5, Bannockburn Serré, Mount Mary, Giant Steps Applejack, Tolpuddle and many more besides.
Single-vineyard Grenache is an understudy in this regard, though some are gaining resonance. It’s also increasingly found in breakout roles in unexpected places. Sam Middleton of Mount Mary told me a few years back that he's loving his Grenache in the Yarra Valley, planted in 2008/9 as a climate change future-proofing measure and already coming into its own. Another off-Broadway production is Great Southern in Western Australia, where Swinney has garnered an improbable run of hits for its estate and Farvie bottlings from Frankland River.
Swinney winemaker Rob Mann was a Hardys acolyte of Stephen Pannell back in the day and sings from the same hymn sheet. Shaded by its 3D bush-vine canopy, the Grenache is nevertheless picked before Syrah in some years. Rob is on the lookout for spice and “structural tannins” and, like Pannell et al, likes the "lucidity and freshness" he gets from maturation in large, seasoned oak.
Mann told Vininspo!: "Of Australian Grenache, Steve Pannell is its Peter Pan, McLaren Vale its Neverland, and I consider myself one of the lost boys, having the unique opportunity to champion Frankland River's great potential for the variety.”
In J.M. Barrie’s play and the movies, Peter Pan was a frivolous, free-spirited boy who wouldn’t grow up. These wines make the case that Grenache, by contrast, is ready to reveal a more rooted, ruminative side to its character.
The question is, how many will queue up to see that version?
The Wines
2023 Bondar Rayner Vineyard Grenache McLaren Vale RRP $41
Growing/making: The Grenache comes from the 1970 block in the Rayner Vineyard. The dry-grown, organically managed vines sit on very sandy soils (part of the Pirramimma sandstone geology). Facing east on the site's western side, these low-yielding vines produce small bunches and berries and miss out on the hot late-afternoon sun during summer. The Bondar team picks their Grenache fruit a little earlier than many of their peers, helping to capture the fruit’s red fruit and herbal characteristics. 20% bunches are used in the spontaneous ferments, and the wine is aged for six months in ceramic eggs and French barrels.
My tasting: Entrancingly vibrant colour and perfume. There are rose petals, peach, orange and almond blossoms, nori, mint, rosehip tea and red berries. In the mouth, this is juicy and lucid with a slaty purity to its medium-bodied flow. Cranberry, redcurrant, raspberry and blueberry fruit with notes of salumi, cumin and white pepper. I love the lift and seamlessness; so easy to be drawn in and drink that you forget yourself, though there's plenty of complexity. Likewise, the tannin and acidity are so in step that the former is invisible, except there's a pleasant rasp doing its job of carrying the pleasure long through the breezy, transparent finish. A light-footed style that leaves you wanting another glass.
2022 Swinney Grenache Frankland River RRP $48
Growing/making: Fruit for the 2022 Swinney Grenache was handpicked from the well-established, dry-grown bush vines on the Wilsons Pool vineyard’s rich gravel/loam soils. In the vineyard, each vine was passed over multiple times, ensuring only perfect fruit was harvested. In the cellar, the fruit was destemmed and sorted berry by berry. Fermentation occurred with 15% whole bunches in a combination of small wooden fermenters and stainless-steel tanks. The wine spent two weeks on skins before being pressed to a 3600-litre seasoned French vat for 11 months’ maturation.
My tasting: The nose is fruit-pure, strong and grounded; there’s a touch of rose petal and musk, and it’s a primary fruit (raspberry, cherry, blueberry) rather than confected impression. Also, shortbread, honey, anise, iodine and iron. The palate shows intense fruit in a rounded, fuller-bodied guise, with convincing earthy, savoury, bloody threads. It’s even and well composed, not too sweet, with purity and plenty of integrated, crushed-rock tannin. All the elements are trussed up together on a fairly long finish; I especially like coda’s ferrous twist.
2022 Spinifex Sol Solice Grenache Eden Valley RRP $65
Growing/making: This is the inaugural release of Sol Solice, a bottling to represent the finest Spinifex Grenache of a given vintage. In 2022 the fruit was sourced from two vineyards: the Rostein Vineyard in the Eden Valley (64%); and a vineyard in Light Pass in the heart of the Barossa Valley. Both vineyards are managed organically by Pete Schell and Magali Gely. The three hectares of Grenache in the Rostein Vineyard were planted in 2018. At 490 metres above sea level, it’s the highest altitude Grenache block in South Australia, according to Pete. The Light Pass site is a dry-grown vineyard with 60-year-old vines. The fruit was picked by hand and destemmed before spontaneous fermentation in stainless steel and old wood. Fermentation lasted eight days with minimal pumpovers. After pressing, the wine matured in seasoned puncheons and demi-muids for 10 months before it was bottled without fining or filtration.
My tasting: A deeper purple in the glass. Berries cascading from red to black, smoke spice and iron. The entry is plush and concentrated, saturated with raspberry and mulberry. It’s cuddly and full-bodied with a succulent, fresh-crushed feel to its fruit plus dried citrus peel, chocolate, sweet spice and salted liquorice. Complementing the velvet are graphite-mineral tannins—firm, commanding and corralling the fruit beautifully. Decadently generous with the transparency of great Grenache and layered with interest. Blackberry and black-pastille fruit cruise through on the finish.
