This winter I’ll be hosting a dinner for some wine-curious but inexperienced friends. There will probably be four of us total. The goal is to learn about/explore a facet of wine. Could be a region, a style, a grape variety, whatever. Like book club, but drinking wine instead!
One of them spent a good amount of time in Southern France and told me that her favorite wine grape is Grenache. I was thinking of a Grenache themed evening. My plan was to open with a Grenache blanc or Grenache gris, then two reds, probably a New World (Tribute to Grace?) and a CdP, and I have a nice aged bottle of Rivesaltes for the dessert.
But I don’t know anything about whites made from Grenache. Any recommendations? Also, I’d be curious if you have any other thoughts about how to conduct a Grenache themed wine night.
This might not be what you intended but leaving out the original homes of Grenache seems off. I’d include a Cannonau di Sardegna and/or a Priorat (close enough). Of course there’s also Comando G. Yes that’s too many wines I know.
Other than ratings I also don’t know anything about the white ones so I won’t comment on those.
A Grenache based CDP is certainly a good idea for people learning, as thats what most people would probably first think of when it comes to the grape(?).
But there is also a lot of movement towards lighter versions of Grenache as seen in areas like Gredos, Spain. I would certainly add one of those as it is a completely different wine to those of CDP most of the time and very fun to taste up against a CDP.
There are also some very interesting Grenache made in South Africa. Eben Sadie’s Soldaat can be very good. David & Nadia Sadie also makes some nice pure Grenache wines.
If you can find/afford any Reynaud wines, that is wines that will blow peoples mind…
A few years back when i had tasted a lot less wine than i have now, me and two friends did a small three bottle Grenache tasting at a restaurant in Copenhagen. I had never had a wine from any of the producers before. They were Comando G, Eben Sadie and Reynaud’s Rayas! All of them very impressive, but the Rayas was almost life changing (in a wine kinda way).
Cool theme, just had exactly the same one a couple weeks ago. A bit hard to recommend things since I’m sure availability of anything will be wildly different.
Whites from Cotes Catalanes and around there will generally have a fair amount of Grenache Blanc and/or Gris. Often you’ll get other bits of vermentino (Rolle), Macabeo, but some should be more Grenache based. I can’t imagine there will be a huge selection so see what you see and run with it. White CdP is potentially another option, most should be Grenache Blanc heavy, but of course there are several other allowed grapes.
Thank you, my friend. I dig Grenache Blanc and have been making a stand alone version since 2006 and a blend containing GB, Roussanne and Marsanne sine 2013. I love how it functions on its own and how it can counter the richness of the ither 2 varieties mentioned . . .
If the purpose of the tasting is to get a better understanding of Grenache, then I would strive to find bottlings that are 100% Grenache (which would exclude most CdP). I find that Grenache characteristics can be lost/changed when blended with even small percentages of other grapes.
We also really enjoy the Ridge Grenache Blanc, and Tribute to Grace does a nice Grenache Blanc as well.
Plenty of fantastic domestic 100% Grenaches from throughout CA and WA as well as Grenache Blancs. In addition to the 2 Grenache Blancs mentioned (and do note that the Ridge is usually only about 75% Grenache Blanc so if you’re going to stay consistent with your comments re: CdP you may want to with Grenache Blanc as well), I would certainly include Tablas Creek’s version and mine would be a nice counter to it (my current release is my 2016 and it’s rocking right now).
As far as reds go, a lot of us have been exploring 100% Grenaches from all different sites throughout CA. For a more structured take on the variety, get your hands on Alban’s - always an enjoyable ‘monster’ for sure. For lighter styles, search out Angela’s different bottlings at Tribute to Grace, Folded Hills, and Birichino. For others, I may 3 different vineyard designate bottlings and others in our area to try would be Beckman and Kaena.
And as far as Grenache Gris goes, Kris Curran has been making one for about a decade here in SB County. I also know that William Allen at Two Shepherds makes one, too
Agree with this part. If Grenache is the main theme, getting a CdP is a weird choice, seeing how the wines typically have only 50-65% Grenache. And normally Grenache is there for the body and alcohol - the other varieties typically overwhelm Grenache aromatically. I’d look for 100% Grenache wines over Southern Rhône blends. Guillermo’s suggestions of Catalan Garnachas, Serra do Gredos’ Garnachas (eg. Comando G) and Sardegna’s Cannonaus would definitely be among my choices.
Grenache Blanc can be a bit difficult one. The main problem of the variety is that it very easily gets soft, flabby and high in alcohol - this is pretty obvious is one has drunk Southern Rhône whites. Grenache Blanc actually prefers higher altitudes and cooler temperatures than one would think, which is why most of the Grenache Blancs I’ve tasted have been quite blowzy.
I haven’t had much Grenache Blancs from the US, so I can’t really comment those, but IMO the best region for Grenache Blanc is Terra Alta in Catalonia. These wines tend to be much lighter, lower in alcohol and higher in acidity than is typical of the variety; the best ones can be described as Iberian take on Chablis - as opposed to the fat, cumbersome white Châteauneuf-du-Papes.
Also Donovan Rall’s Grenache Blanc from South Africa is worth checking out.
I used to import a Grenache Gris, but even though it got excellent press, it was too hard to sell. Colin H is right, many if not most Cotes Catalanes whites are based on Grenache Blanc and/or Gris, but there are very very few in the U.S. market.
Tablas Creek makes a very good Grenache Blanc.
I would not worry about having pure Grenache, especially for reds. If you want to have two Grenache-based reds to make an interesting contrast, look for one Chateauneuf-du-Pape and one Priorat that are majority Grenache.
Totally agree with the Tablas Creek Grenache Blanc recommendation. I find their whites to be some of the best Rhone varietal white wines made in the US.
Why do you say that? If the idea is to truly compare grenaches, it might be important to try them without anything else blended in . . . and that would be true for domestic versions as well.
One of the ‘challenges’ with Grenache Blanc, especially domestic versions, is that they tend to fall into one of two categories - rich and textured but without much acid or crisp and acidic without much body. It’s a variety that can achieve both - and can actually age quite nicely as well. Every one that I’ve produced tends to take on some ‘petrol’ notes with age - I’m convinced that the variety may contain the same chemical marker that riesling has (TDN).
