Talk-A-Vino

Last Friday, September 15th, we celebrated International Grenache Day. For those rare grape holidays I manage not to miss, I usually write a post on the actual day of celebration. This post didn’t make it on time (obviously), but I managed to open a beautiful bottle, so better late than never…

First, let’s talk about Grenache. Grenache, also known as Garnacha in Spain, is one of the major red wine grapes. Grenache is growing in all major winemaking regions – France, Spain, Italy (under the name of Cannonau), Australia, New Zealand, California, Washington, Israel, and many other places.

I’m sure that when people hear the name Grenache, the instant association is “red wine”. However, close relatives Grenache Blanc and Grenache Gris are also popular grapes, capable of producing delicious white wines – as they do, for example, in Southern Rhône.

Grenache is versatile – it can star on its own, but it is also a great team player. In Spain, Grenache, or rather, Garnacha,  is the grape behind some of the most coveted wines of Priorat (Clos Erasmus, anyone?). Campo de Borja in Aragon is another Garnacha’s sacred land – if you have ever experienced the beauty of Alto Moncayo wines, you know what I’m talking about (if you didn’t, it is never too late to rectify). And in some regions, such as Rioja, Garnacha successfully plays a supporting role.

In France, Grenache is the driving force behind the wines of Southern Rhône – Gigondas, Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and everything in between fully relies on Grenache – both solo and as a part of the blend. I’m sure you heard of GSM, which stands for Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre – this trio constitutes an absolute majority of Southern Rhône wines, but GSM blends from Australia and the US will give Rhône wines great run for the money.

In the US, Grenache powers many California Rhône Rangers wines – Alban, Saxum, Pax, as well as many of the Washington wines – again, both in solo versions, such as single-vineyard No Girls and Horsepower wines and cult blended renditions such as Sine Qua None.

When it comes to the grape holidays, I take pleasure in going through the labels of the wines I had in the past and building a little collage to represent my experiences with the celebrated grape. I realized that even though I wrote about Grenache Day in the past, I never made a collage – fixing this problem was a lot of fun:

Now, let’s talk about the Grenache that put a smile on my face that Friday – 2015 Carlisle Grenache Rossi Ranch Sonoma Valley (15.4% ABV).

Carlisle is best known for their Zinfandel and Syrah wines. But they also make other wines, such as Grenache, Mourvèdre, Alicante Bouschet, albeit in small quantities and not every year. Carlisle Grenache is a rare animal – I’m not even sure I ever got any other Grenache via the mailing list. It appears that the 2014 vintage was not even bottled, as the wine couldn’t be tamed. However, 2015 worked very well, and Carlisle was able to produce the whooping amount … wait for it … of 77 cases. I don’t even know by what luck I was able to get a bottle, but I’m very happy that I did.

100% Grenache, aged in neutral oak. The wine was stunning – first, the nose, loaded with red berries and herbs, fresh, complex, and vibrant – one of those wines you want to smell indefinitely. When I finally got to sip the wine, it didn’t disappoint – the core of the red fruit, a hint of tobacco and just a tiny splash of dark chocolate, sage, vibrant, full of energy and impeccably balanced. And we got to enjoy the wine over a magnificent sunset – two pleasures at once…

This is my Grenache Day story. What Grenache experiences would you like to share?