REVIEW: An excellent crop of local grenache demonstrates how the variety excels in several WA regions.
These final months of the year are the very best time for wine lovers.
A whole range of varieties come into play as the cold, rain and darkness of winter yield to the warmth and brightness of spring, before the inferno of the Western Australian summer.
Sure, you can stay with the bold reds, which are generally part of the winter wine list, or you can jump ahead into the whites that lie in wait for summer: the rieslings, the blends and the medium-bodied chardonnays.
Or you can lock your sights on something in between.
There’s pinot, of course, and these days Australia has some really outstanding examples. Exciting, too, that so many first-rate pinots are coming from WA.
Perhaps grenache might be just the ticket.
If you had suggested this 15 or so years ago I would have had a good laugh, given these were the remnants of the big and clumsy attempts to replicate the bold shiraz of the Barossa with a variety that was unsuitable for that style.
Thankfully the wine industry recognised the mistakes and folly of staying on this path and moved on to making wines of less weight, which allowed the stunning perfumed fragrances of grenache to emerge.
The number of beautiful-drinking grenache that you can find these days is remarkable.
While the winds of change in the approach to this variety started in the Barossa and McLaren Vale, it quickly spread to other regions, especially WA, where the variety excels in several regions.
In fact, the adaptability of grenache to excel in different sub-climates and terrains is the reason it has become so popular with wine drinkers.
This week I have chosen three WA grenache from different regions to show its versatility. So, let’s start in the Swan Valley.
The original home of the state’s wine industry has some of Australia’s oldest grenache vines, which highlight the virtues of the region and the variety.
Several winemakers are making stunning wines with these largely low-yielding dry-grown vines.
Frankland River has emerged as one of the great wine regions and this is evident with the quality of grenache being made there.
Another region to perform well with this variety is Geographe.
In fact, this is an underrated region when it comes to high-class wines. But grenache is particularly well suited to the region, which produces wines that sit between the opulence of the Frankland and the smooth elegance and intensity of the Swan Valley.
This week I have selected two impressive grenache from the Swan Valley and one from Geographe.
My apologies for a little confusion, too.
While the Sittella is Swan Valley grenache from a Swan Valley winery, the Rockcliffe is a Swan Valley grenache from a Denmark winery, and the Nikola is a Geographe grenache from a Swan Valley winery.
The good thing about each of these is that, as the weather heats up, you might want to pop the bottle in the fridge for a short time.
The soft fruit and subtle tannins suit a light chill before drinking.
Rockcliffe Single Site Limited Release Grenache 2023 ($50)
When it comes to delightful, delicious drinking, grenache is a variety that stood out in 2023. This is one of the most beautifully presented Rockcliffe wines I have tasted. Spicy plum and bright red fruits on the nose provide an exquisite opening. The palate has a vibrancy and energy that is part of the vintage DNA. It has a fine firm weave of tannin and chalky acid that gives it another nudge. Excellent.
Score 95/100
Cellar: Six years
Sittella Avant-Garde Golden Mile Grenache 2022 ($40)
This wine provides compelling evidence of why Swan Valley grenache should rank with anything being produced in Australia. It’s picked by hand off selected bunches from selected dry-grown old bush vines before being gravity bottled, unfined and unfiltered. So, it’s as pure as you get. Wonderful bright raspberry and rose petal fruit aromas with a light-to-medium-bodied palate that puts the spotlight on those vibrant fruit characters. Just beautiful.
Score 96/100
Cellar: Eight years
Nikola Estate Regional Grenache 2023 ($50)
A beautiful grenache from the Geographe region. Brings together the perfumed aromatics of this variety with the intensely flavoursome medium-bodied palate. A spicy dried herbs infusion complements the sweet fruit. Has such a beautifully textured supple palate, thanks to the quality fruit and the seamless integration of fruit and oak. A beauty.
Score 94/100
Cellar: 10 years
- Ray Jordan is one of Australia’s most experienced and respected wine journalists, contributing to newspapers and magazines over more than 40 years. In 2017 he co-authored The Way it Was: The History of the early years of the Margaret River Wine Region
