Four of the finest Grenaches money can buy

We bring you four of the world’s finest pure Grenache wines following a masterclass on this underrated grape led by the Australia’s Winemaker of the Year for 2016.

The Grenache-focused event was held on London on 12 October this year by the drinks business, and hosted by Yangarra’s Peter Fraser, who has just been named Australian Winemaker of the Year by eminent wine critic James Halliday.

The masterclass was designed to look at the quality and stylistic differences of those rare wines that are made entirely of Grenache, a grape that is more commonly blended, whether it features in the fine wines from Spain, France or Australia.

Fraser’s expertise centres on Rhône grapes, in particular Grenache, having made wine from the variety since 2000 at Yangarra Estate in the McLaren Vale, where he crafts the flagship High Sands Grenache, created using biodynamically-farmed fruit from bush vines planted in 1946 on the highest point of the producer’s ancient sandy dunes.

Although the event was held to promote the wines of Yangarra, Fraser agreed to show his wines alongside the world’s most celebrated varietal Grenaches, and in doing so, allowed us to run London’s first comprehensive comparative tasting of the very greatest 100% Grenache wines.

Over the following pages we bring you the top four wines of the tasting in the order in which they were sampled, including information on their histories, and an assessment of their styles.

Château Rayas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2008 (14%)

Château Rayas is one of those producers that does things differently. Unlike everyone else in Châteauneuf-du-Pape, who choose to blend grapes from among the fifteen allowed within the appellation, Rayas works solely with Grenache, and in doing so, produces what is the world’s most expensive and sought-after pure example from this grape.

The property uses very low yielding old bush vine Grenache to produce an intensely flavoured wine, which is matured, again unusually, in 450 litre oak casks.

Aware of the wine’s elegance, and the fact that we were pouring a bottle from the 2008 vintage, we began the flight of fine Grenaches with the Rayas. The wine’s colour and nose showed some development, with a brick red rim and a lovely perfume combining pepper, grass clippings, and a hint of ripe strawberry. The palate similar showed a slightly vegetal aged grassy character with some red fruit, touch of cranberry freshness, and an intensely peppery sensation on the finish, along with a mouth-coating chalky tannin. Relatively light in mouthfeel, this would please the Burgundy lover as much as it would sate the sipper of Southern Rhône reds.

RRP: approx. £300 per bottle

El Espectacle de Montsant, 2012 (15.5%)

For our next great varietal Grenache we went to Spain, but not to any of the traditional well-known regions, but the relatively new appellation of Montsant, which in fact surrounds the more famous Priorat.

And it was due to one particular wine that we picked this place, a varietal Grenache called Espectacle from 120 year-old vines.

This wine is made by René Barbier, famous for Priorat’s Clos Mogador, and uses Grenache from a high-altitude 2 hectare plot, which, like Château Rayas, is aged in a large oak vat following fermentation, as opposed to the smaller French barriques.

Just 5,000 bottles are made each year and the wine was shown immediately after the Château Rayas because the Espectacle was similarly light in body, that is relative to the wines from Australia – which feature on the following pages.

Coming from the 2012 vintage, the Espectacle showed plenty of red and black ripe berry fruit on the nose, along with a slightly creamy character. In the mouth, there was a similar mixed of red and darker fruits, along with an appealing chalky texture, not unlike the Rayas that preceded it.

It was a pleasant surprise for the UK audience, the majority of whom had not tried this wine before, although with a 15.5% abv, it did show a touch of alcohol burn on the finish.

RRP: Approx £80 per bottle

Yangarra, High Sands Grenache, McLaren Vale

If the pure Grenache from Montsant was a pleasant surprise for attendees of the comparative tasting, the top wine from McLaren Vale’s Yangarra Estate was a revelation. Called High Sands, the Grenache comes from Yangarra’s highest point of its grey ancient sandy dunes in McLaren Vale’s celebrated sub-region of Blewitt Springs.

The bush vines were planted by Frederick Arthur Smart in 1946 when land grants were given to soldiers returning from World War II, and are managed today according to certified Biodynamic farming methods by Yangarra winemaker Peter Fraser and his team.Yields are incredibly low, with just 15hl/ha produced, the same output from the bush vines at Château Rayas in Châteauneuf-du-Pape.

As for the winemaking techniques, High Sands is made using open fermenters, natural yeasts, and a careful regime of plunging, rack and returns, before the wine is drained into barrel and keep on its yeast lees for at least 12 months. It then is stored in barrel for 10-18 months, with only one year old French oak is used.

We tasted both the Yangarra High Sands 2010 and 2012 vintages, the former representing one of McLaren Vale’s best harvests, while the latter, the 2012, gave attendees a chance to try a lighter vintage, but also a wine with slightly less oak influence: it spent 10 months in barrel as opposed to 15 for the 2010.

The Yangarra High Sands 2010 was still showing lots of bright ruby colour and an inviting nose of ripe red fruit and a hint of fine oak. The palate was generous, with intense red fruit, some fleshy sweet dark cherry flavours, a hint of vanilla, and fine-grained tannic structure that cleansed the mouth, aided by a lifted acidity.

Moving to the 2012, the nose was delicate, even slightly closed, with some gentle red and dark berry fruit, and no barrel-sourced characters. In the mouth, a more open dark berry flavour was reminiscent of fine New World Pinot Noir, although with a complementary firm, tight tannic structure, and an almost sour cherry bite on the finish, the wine also had the hallmarks of a great Tuscan red.

RRP: Approx £65  (High Sands 2010, 135 cases made, abv 14.5%; High Sands 2012, 183 cases made, abv 14%)

Torbreck, Les Amis, Barossa Valley, 2009 (14.5%)

We finished the great pure Grenache tasting with an example that is one of Australia’s most highly-awarded wines: Torbreck’s Les Amis.

Hailing from the Barossa’s western Seppeltsfield, Les Amis is made using grapes from dry-farmed bush vines planted in 1901, which are then pressed directly into new French barriques, where the wines age for 18 months.

The combination of low-yielding old vines, the Barossa climate, and an extended period in new French oak meant this was the most powerful wine of the flight, and hence it’s position as the last Grenache of the tasting.

It was certainly a big wine, with plenty of vanilla oak aromas on the nose, along with sweet ripe dark cherry fruit. The palate showed similar characters, along with soft strawberry, a touch of Rioja-like coconut, and plenty of firm tannin to complement the rich fruit. Generous, but with just enough freshness, this was a massive and balanced statement, although, like the Grenache from Montsant, the finish did feature a warming sensation from the high level of alcohol.

RRP: Approx £120

The wines above and below featured in the comparative tasting led by Peter Fraser on 12 October at The Westbury Hotel in London’s Mayfair.

• Château Rayas, Châteauneuf-du-Pape, 2008, 14%
• Espectacle, Montsant, 2012, 15.5%
• Yangarra, High Sands Grenache, McLaren Vale, 2010, 14.5%
• Yangarra, High Sands Grenache, McLaren Vale, 2012, 14%
• Torbreck, Les Amis, Barossa Valley, 2009, 14.5%

The same tasting will be repeated in Hong Kong on May 23. For more information email sheila.crisp@thedrinksbusiness.com