Category: Grenache Syrah blends

2018 Guillaume Gonnet Le Hardi Côtes du Rhône Villages

Opened ready to go, bright and clean. 80% Grenache, the rest Syrah. Overlay of peanuts, crisp red cherry, pomegranate, woody herbs on a firm bed of acidity and tannin that’s maybe a bit stalky. Medium of body, astutely avoiding over extraction. Deepened after twenty four hours, very squishy ripe raspberries and some chocolate made dark with a soupçon of bitter sulphide. Enough good fruit, particularly with food, to dream of Châteauneuf du Pape. Bit of a bargain really.

14% alcohol. Screw cap. 532 gms of glass. $17 Dan Murphy’s member special.

Solid 92 points.

2018 Jericho GSM

A blend of 85% Grenache, 12% Shiraz and 3% Mourvèdre which means it could be simply labelled as Grenache under Australian labelling rules which apparently allow 15% of something else without having to declare it. Not much chance of real ingredient labelling anytime soon then. Nonetheless, kudos to the Jerichos for being this concise. The label also says it’s from the Blewitt Springs sub region where nearly every McLaren Vale Grenache I’ve enjoyed seems to come from. Smell and flavours thus, leather, earthy, dried cherry and a sort of clove or nutmeg feel. It comes alive on the tongue with really bright rich raspberries, florals, hot cross bun spice and leathery dried grape skins. Good whack of natural feeling, stalky acidity cleans up nicely. Second day and the rich fruit’s quite lolly sweet to the point of almost cloying but that stalky cut organises it well. Delicious but you have to like that youthful power of full throttle sweet Grenache, honest, rich and probably typical of the Springs of Blewitt.

14.20% alcohol. Screw cap. 548 gms of glass. $26, good value.

93 points.

2017 Tardieu Laurent Les Becs Fins Côtes du Rhône Villages

Fat, rich and warm hearted Grenache. Clean and deliciously very ripe raspberries, cherry liqueur, brown spices and those woody herbs that scent the air on a warm Mediterranean afternoon. All these things impact well as it slips through like molten chocolate with just enough life giving acidity to suggest another mouthful. The sort of fruit quality you’d be happy to see in a loftier appellation. Tardieu Laurent know how to source their grapes. For once the wine stained label was not my fault but maybe from a breakage in the case in the auction house storage. The chunky looking chap on the label looks a bit miffed about it. If I drank this regularly, I’d end up with Obelix’s belly. Lush, the wine that is.

14% alcohol. Cork and not the best. $22 win at auction.

93 points.

2017 Guillaume Gonnet Le Rêveur Côtes du Rhône

Another value direct import from Woolworths. A whiff of sulphurous reduction to start which airs away to allow flowers, cherry preserve and a slap of sweet leather to emerge. Not huge or deep but gentle and pure in flavour. Over a couple of days, things cleaned up even more and some Southern Rhône shrubbery smells popped up amongst the very ripe fruit. 80% Grenache and 20% Syrah with the former’s ability to hang on to natural acidity very much on show, refreshing and binding the fine tannin. Such value imports are becoming the best reason to visit the shelves at Dan’s. The cheerful and good natured frontline workers braving retail every day in such times are another.

14% alcohol. Screwcap. $18.10 in a six.

90 points.

2013 Sons of Eden Kennedy Grenache Shiraz Mourvèdre

Accidentally typed Soms of Eden, appropriate typo perhaps as this is just the sort of real Barossa that I like to drink. A few years rest in the bottle have rounded and sweetened the beautifully rich flavours. Blackberry, perfumed with cherry, plums and aniseed underpinned by Barossa carbon and coal dust. A veritable symphony that swells with deeply meaningful fruit in its last movement. The blend again is more than the sum of its parts, Grenache the treble, Shiraz the middle and spicy too, Mourvèdre the bass. Warm, rich and generous Barossa at its best. Old Joe in the hat on the label would be as happy as if that were a jazz roll up.

14.50% alcohol. Screwcap. About $27 on release.

94 points.

2016 Mas de Libian Côtes du Rhône Bout d’Zan

Organic and Biodynamic Grenache for the most part and some Syrah. Opens with a whiff of matchstick reduction which happily lifts to show the brightest raspberries and sweet green Mediterranean shrubbery. Really pure scents and flavors, bouncy across the tongue as fresh mouthwatering acidity and a rasp of fine skin tannin balance things up. It takes some patience to let it sit in the glass but the reward is some extra depth of stewed cherries, aniseed and a calm earthy energy. Zan was the nickname of the maker’s father. He’d be proud to see it on the label of what the importers call a high country freshness from the western slopes of the Rhône, both kinds of C&W good.

14% alcohol. Cork. Lucky win at auction.

93 points.

2018 Famille Marcel Richaud Côtes du Rhône Les Buisserons

Sigh, last of the Paris buys worth a mention. From a caviste tucked away on a one way street close to Place de la Republique, overdue a visit and full of good choices like Richaud and Gramenon next to each other on the Rhône shelf. Despite some reservations about the former’s alcohol levels and ripeness in recent years, Marcel Richaud has often won this heart with the sheer depth of some great fruit turned into a rich, deeply flavoured mouthful. This one’s from a tricky hot year and neatly avoids overdoing it. Dry leathery skin flavours that seem almost Barossa like lead into still crunchy raspberry and cherry bright fruit. Maybe it’s the Carignan helping out the Grenache and Syrah with some good acidity? Real fruit weight, clean and naturally satisfying tannin and cut, honestly tasty. My visit on a atmospherically gloomy late afternoon in November interrupted the carving of a grand wheel of good Comte. Happy to stop and share warm thoughts about good bottles. Bonne adresse, as they Parisiens say. Delicatessen Cave, 136 rue Amelot 3er. Another visit please.

14.50% alcohol. Cork. 12 euros.

93 points.

2018 La Chapelle de Mayran Côtes du Rhône Villages Lautan

There seems to be an increasing number of bio or organic wines on French supermarché shelves including this one from Monoprix for less than 8 euros. Sometimes Grenache seems at its most delicious when it’s only just been in a bottle for a few months. This is all clean, pungent and musky red fruit in a good way with oodles of spice and flowers. Sort of thing you’d love in a carafe in one of those imaginary Gallic bistros. Actually improved over 24 hours, beyond which it wasn’t going to last. Sweet Grenache given legs and some depth by the usual suspects of Syrah and Mourvèdre. Looks like it may be an own brand bottling as there’s not much more info available than what’s on the label. Makes trudging round the stupor market almost a pleasure.

13.50% alcohol. Cork. 8 euros.

90 points

2015 Bodegas Augusta Bilibis Segeda Garnacha Syrah Calatayud

Bilibis refers to the Roman town that imposed itself in Aragón around the time mighty Caesar Augustus clobbered the locals and thence led them to ask in a Life of Brian way, “what has the Pax Romana done for us?” Perhaps viticultural techniques that led to this beautifully polished wine. Very ripe but so suave red and black fruits lifted by a blackberry and violet mouth perfume. Verging on the extra deep. Judiciously inserted toast and mocha oak with no visible seams showing. Tannins are soft and ripe but still firmed by comfortable acidity. Crafted more than engineered perhaps. In vino veritably delicious.

14.50% alcohol. Cork. 8.50 euros of great value from the extra knowledgeable Alberto at Enoteca Khantaros in Zaragoza.

94 points.

2014 Locos por el Vino Gruñón Garnacha Shiraz Campo de Borja

Gruñón means something like grumpy old man in Spanish, the perfect wine for this blog then. More Garnacha from the hills around Borja, this time blended with some whole bunch Shiraz planted thereabouts from old Barossa clones it seems. This is apparently a side project for some of the Bodegas Alto Moncayo team. One of their members being the very patient and generous with both time and knowledge, Chris Ringland who has more than some experience in handling very ripe old vine fruit. The Gruñón in the bottle opened with a woody herb whole bunch savour with ripe cherry, blackberry and a touch of anise under scored by that rocky cut of Aragón. Second and especially third days of oxygen exposure and the whole bunch sank into the rich dark fruit and luxurious texture. The oak hardly poked its head above the fruit and bunchyness particularly compared to the serious Alto Moncayo threesome. One common thread being still fresh fruit and settled natural acidity at such rich levels of ripeness and alcohol. No sign of dried Christmas cake fruit and dullness here. If you’re interested in place and grape, notwithstanding any previous prejudices about ripeness and alcohol, present yourself in old Borja with an open mind and, crikey, will they look after you. Bit less grumpy after this.

15.50% alcohol. Cork. 16.90 euros.

94 points.