The Grenache grape is a popular ingredient

The Grenache grape is a popular ingredient

Robert Noel
This week, we discover Grenache, a grape which is not well known by many, although it is one of the most cultivated grapes in the world and also a key ingredient in several great wines.
There is a large amount of Grenache vines in both France and Spain (Garnacha Tinta). In France, it is used in many of the red and rosé wines of the Rhone Valley and the wine-producing areas of the southern regions of France. Grenache is the ingredient of the few rosé wines that can age, such as Tavel and Lirac. On the other hand, it is rather rare to find a wine made of 100 per cent Grenache, since it is used mostly as a partner (ingredient) for different types of wine.
In France, Grenache is blended with Syrah, Carignan, Cinsault, Mouvedre and another type of grape to make the famous Chateauneuf-du-Pape and other wines from southern part of the Rhone Valley. (In the northern part of the Rhone Valley, the Syrah grape is the star ingredient).
In Languedoc-Roussillon, located in the southern part of France, Grenache is often used in blends similar to the ones from the Rhone Valley. French producers also use this grape to make fortified wine (port styles) like Banyul and Maury.
In Spain, Grenache is also used as a partner in other wines like Rioaj with the native grape Tempranillo. Lately, in Spain, a growing number of wines are made only with Grenache. Elsewhere in the world Grenache, a grape that loves heat, is cultivated in the countries and regions with hot climates like Australia and California.
A great number of vines of Grenache are found in Australia where producers also blend this grape with other types of grapes like Shiraz. In Italy, we can find wine made from Grenache under name of Cannonau, especially in Sardinia.
In France and Spain a great quantity of Grenache grapes are distilled to make alcohol or are used to make Brandy and another products like Vermouth.
Also when you see the mention GSM on an Australian wine, it is a blend of Grenache, Syrah and Mouvedre, The Australian producers imitate the producers of the southern Rhône Valley with this blend, making tasty wine with good complexity. These are often much more powerful than the French examples.
Grenache is a type of grape with a high sugar content which can produces wines with alcohol potential above average.
This grape can survive in very hot climates and with little rain. The wines from this grape are often high in alcohol, light in colour and have flavours and aromas of red fruits like strawberries and raspberries with a touch of spice like pepper.
In the best examples, we can notice aromas of savoury herbs like thyme and sage. Usually, Grenache makes very fruity wines, with a warm mouth feel but not necessarily too much tannin. When vinified alone, Grenache offers wines that are easy to drink with limited ageing potential (unless being made starting from old vine and by a serious producer).
On the other hand when to blended with other type of grapes like for Chateauneuf-du-Pape, it can produce wines with great ageing potential which will become very complex and exotic with time in the cellar.
* Robert Noel is Alcool N.B. Liquor's sommelier. His column, World of Wine, appears each Saturday in Life & Times.
Origin information: Times & Transcript