Great grenache

Wine reviews by Gill Gordon-Smith IWE

Sherrah Wines

The wines made by Alex Sherrah are a love letter to McLaren Vale and the grape varieties that thrive there. This is his unique twist on the classic GSM blend, in which mourvedre has been substituted for nero d’Avola with delightful results. The bush vine grenache finds its perfect partners in shiraz, which softens the mid palate, and the Italian nero creating a wine with silky texture, ripe berries and hints of spice. sherrahwines.com.au

Bondar Wines

Andre and Selina Bondar have a small block of 50-year-old, drygrown grenache planted in sand on their renowned Rayner Vineyard in McLaren Vale. From the lowest-yielding section of that block comes this wine. Hand-picked fruit, fermented naturally in old French oak and ceramic eggs, this wine is perfumed, fresh and vibrant, with layers of complexity built around the beautifully aromatic and pure grenache fruit. Just 204 dozen bottles made. bondarwines.com.au

Serafino

The Serafino Reserve Grenache is passionately crafted by Charles Whish from a selection of premium vineyards across McLaren Vale, the oldest being planted in 1947. A fruit-forward style with beautiful complexity, this grenache delivers a long, even, super silky palate. A bouquet of forest berries, cherries and plums meet with brightness and spice in this medium-bodied wine. Delicious with game dishes such as quail and pork; enjoy upon release or cellar up to 2025. serafinowines.com.au

Dowie Doole

The Dowie Doole B.F.G. Grenache is a classic expression of a McLaren Vale grenache, with fruit sourced from Dowie Doole’s 1965-planted bush vine grenache from the California Road Estate Vineyard, Tatachilla. With a vibrant bouquet of red berries and subtle hints of clove and lavender. The aromatics follow through to the palate, demonstrating grenache’s intrinsic vibrancy and elegance. Drink young and fresh to enjoy the vibrant grenache fruit, the wine pairs perfectly with friends and charcuterie plates. dowiedoole.com

Kay Brothers

The best parcels of hand-picked grenache were selected from the Amery vineyard to go into this wine. The soils are shallow red sandy loam over complex geology comprising quartz and ironstone, enhancing the aromatics of the wine. Fruit was open-fermented and gently basket pressed. The result is a rich and concentrated grenache with fruit flavours of strawberry and dark cherries and nice supple acidity, while slowly building chalky tannins provide great length. A very serious grenache. kaybrothers.com.au

Wirra Wirra

The Absconder Grenache is sourced from the Blagrove Vineyard in McLaren Flat, a stone’s throw from Wirra Wirra’s 125-year-old winery. Planted in 1920, this bush vine vineyard is hand-picked and gently crushed and destemmed to two tonne open fermenters with a small number of bunches left whole. Each ferment was hand plunged to achieve the desired amount of extraction, and post-ferment the wine was matured in seasoned French oak puncheons to honestly portray this special vineyard. wirrawirra.com

Oliver’s Taranga

Crack a bottle, crank the wood-oven pizzas and rejoice – 180 years on, and grenache has finally reached the height of McLaren Vale cool. Despite almost drought conditions, these old bush vines have delivered the goods again. A few full bunches joined the ferment this year, offering a floral lift and lovely long tannins. With all the fragrances of a mushroom foraging tromp through the pine trees, this medium-bodied grenache is full of spice, earth and forest berry aromas. oliverstaranga.com

Samson Tall

This is a single site grenache from the Peppermint Farm vineyard, just up from the cellar door and once the childhood home of Samson Tall co-founder, Heather Budich. The grapes of the heritage clone grenache were handpicked, destemmed, cold soaked and open fermented, before spending twelve months in 1500 litre French oak fudre and one year in bottle prior to release. The wine is now a lovely, savoury, medium-bodied grenache. Great in summer, served cold from the fridge. samsontall.com.au

d’Arenberg

During the vine pull scheme in the ‘80s, d’Arry Osborn refused to remove his old grenache vineyards. Today d’Arenberg is the keeper of nearly one third of McLaren Vale’s old bush vine grenache, earning the title of ‘Custodian’ of the variety. It’s a fuller bodied style of Grenache with masses of blood orange and amaro on the nose, fleshy red fruits and savoury spice on the palate, plus great texture, acidity and slightly grippy tannin. darenberg.com.au

Vale Taras Ochota

A tribute from Gill Gordon-Smith. Taras Ochota was one of the first winemakers to taste at the original Fall From Grace and supported each of our iterations since. He was a world-class, innovative winemaker and a generous, joyous, unique and beautiful soul. His passing has been met with great sadness both here and internationally. The grenache he made from McLaren Vale was exceptional – delicious, fleshy, honest, thoughtful and reflective of the vineyard and the region. Our thoughts are with his beautiful family and friends.