For California, my favorite Grenache wines have come from A Tribute to Grace and Tablas Creek (though admittedly, I’m not as versed in California wine as I am NW wine). For Washington, Rotie’s Little G, Gramercy’s Third Man, Kerloo’s Upland Vineyard, Sleight of Hand’s Sorceress, and Kevin White’s Pionnier are my favorites, and all tend to be in a more restrained style compared to the fruit bombs that Grenache can be. Grosgrain’s Grenache wines are also very interesting, but I don’t have the same history with those wines as I do the others.
Shameless Shill Moment: I also make exclusively Grenache from Washington vineyards with Ocelli Cellars, and I think my wines tend more towards the restrained side of things. I think if you’ve enjoyed Angela’s A Tribute to Grace wines, you would enjoy mine.
I have a strong dislike for Grenache but really like A Tribute to Grace. The only California Grenache that I like better is Hobo but unfortunately he stopped making it as I understand it didn’t sell well. Darn shame as it was great and I am holding my few remaining bottles.
There certainly are lots of different ‘styles’ of Grenache out there, and I think folks have done a great job delineating this. Angela at A Tribute to Grace does a great job with a very light hand - her wines are lighter colored, lighter textured and more ‘delicate’ than many others in CA. She also used to make the wines at Folded Hills but no longer does - that’s another winery to take note of if you like that style of Grenache. The Birichinos are definitely in that same mode. Have not tried the Bucklin ones but will have to search out.
It’s a challenge to me because Grenache is such a beautiful aromatic variety that does require a good amount of heat to ripen and ‘strut its stuff’. When picked too early, it simply lacks the uniqueness that this variety brings to the table - it reminds me of zinfandel in that regards.
Obviously you can go over the other end - and too many do so. That’s where the tightrope is.
I would say that if you have not tried a lot of domestic Grenaches, now is a good time to explore - and don’t be turned off but what you may have tried in the past - you might be surprised at what you’ll find . . . Let me know if anyone needs suggestions for SBC examples.
I bought Grenache from both Chiron and Orr during BD. So far. So good. I also bought some from Corazon del Sol winery in Mendoza to give them a try. I can find few if any tasting notes on the Corazon del Sol Grenache in CT or anywhere else. I haven’t tried them yet.
The God Only Knows isn’t even labelled as a Grenache any longer. Starting with the 2014 vintage it is labelled “Red Wine”. The blend has always been a mystery (Grenache plus God only knows), but now I can’t even be sure how much Grenache is in the wine.
Domaine Gramenon Ceps Centenaires La Mémé
100+ year old Grenache vines
reminds me of the few Rayas wines I’ve had
priced (thanks Kermit) kind of high around $90
I checked the bottles in my cellar to get the vintage it changed. I noticed it when we recently moved and I was putting wine away. 2014 forward it is labeled as Red Wine, which means it could be a blend of anything including 100% Grenache. My guess is that the blend is now less than the 75% Grenache required to be labeled with the variety name.
Side note: we recently had a bottle of 2019 Folded Hills Whole Cluster Carbonic Syrah…very aromatic and fresh, especially for a wine labeled 14.2% abv. “Carbonic” is not generally a word that draws me in, but we liked this quite a bit.
Interesting to hear that Angela Osborne has moved on - the Folded Hills website still lists her as the winemaker in the FAQ, but it seems that it’s now Michael Brughelli as of last summer.
Fair point John. I went back and looked, and had a couple vintages of the Kangarilla, and also a Liandra syrah. Again, they were really good young, and then became stewed messes. My recollection is RMP gave the 2001 a very high score (97?)
I have no idea if they changed their style, as I don’t see them available near me.
Thanks for all the great info! Has anyone had the Barroche Pure? It’s another 100% Grenache CdP and gets solid scores in CT. My curiosity is piqued, no idea if it is at all Rayas like in character.
Francis Usseglio left Italy in the early 1930s and landed in France. He worked in vineyards and later founded the estate. He had 2 sons - Pierre and Raymond. Pierre took his dad’s property and Raymond went out and started his own. Pierre’s sons run his property today, which is the original property founded by Francis. Raymond’s son Stéphane runs his property. So the two estates are run by cousins. The Pierre Usseglio wines get more critical attention, but the Raymond wines are in some ways more interesting because they’re happy to experiment - they’re biodynamic (which is a whole other issue) and they’re doing wines in amphorae and small oak and large oak vats.
IME anything from the S. Rhone (CDP, CDR, Etc) tends to be rather high alcohol and heavy.
It also is distinct from other regions with noticeable garrigue.
I can’t explain why but I tend to like Gigondas. I think it has good balance and reasonable pricing.
Last night I opened Domaine St. Damien Gigondas Vieilles Vignes 2018 and it was quite good and will possibly buy more.
California Grenache to me is completely different and has more purity.
As others have already said, Tribute to Grace and Larry’s Tercero are great.
I think my all time favorite Grenache was Harrison Clarke who sadly have retired.
It seems that there is not a lot of Grenache being made in California which is a shame because it can do well here.
Spanish Garnacha can be good, I used to enjoy Tres Picos at $13 (now $16), but it has become too sweet for me to enjoy any more so I need to find a replacement.