Food & Wine USA - (04)April 2019

(Comicgek) #1

48 APRIL 2019


LOVE PINOT NOIR for its silky elegance? Check out
Grenache. Syrah for its spicy power? Ditto. Fan of
the recent category of “red blends” filling wine-store
shelves? Again, spend some time with Grenache: It’s
the backbone of one of the original great red blends,
Châteauneuf-du-Pape, whose luscious richness
many of those wines try to hint at (but rarely
achieve). Grown everywhere from southern France
to central Spain to coastal California to Australia’s
sunlit hills, Grenache is the greatest, most widely
planted, yet (weirdly) little-known grape around.

GLORIOUS


GLOBAL


GRENACHES


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2016 YALUMBA


OLD BUSH VINE


GRENACHE ($20)


Don’t be fooled by this
Aussie red’s pale ruby
hue—there are layers
of bright flavor here.
Think fresh rasp-
berries plus a little
citrusy zing. Yalumba,
one of Barossa’s
oldest family-owned
wineries, excels at all
price levels.

2016 COMANDO G LA


BRUJA DE ROZAS


GARNACHA ($27)


Spain’s Sierra de
Gredos region has
rocketed to visibility
thanks to young
winemakers like Dani
Landi and Fernando
García of Comando
G. This herb-scented,
lively red is affordable
yet impressively fra-
grant and complex.

2017 BONNY DOON


CLOS DE GILROY


($20)


Randall Grahm of
Bonny Doon made
his name with his
Grenache-inclusive,
Châteauneuf-inspired
Le Cigare Volant
bottling. Long a fan
of the grape, he has
also made this crisp,
strawberry-scented
red since the mid-’80s.

NV SAINT COSME


LITTLE JAMES’


BASKET PRESS


RED ($14)


Louis Barruol makes
some of the most
sought-after wines
in France’s south-
ern Rhône. He also
ignores the region’s
rules to produce this
multi-vintage Gre-
nache. It bursts with
red fruit and spice.

2014 D’ARENBERG


THE DERELICT


VINEYARD GRENACHE


($29)


As its name suggests,
d’Arenberg’s Chester
Osborn sought out
old, abandoned vine-
yards throughout
Australia’s McLaren
Vale for this potent
red (and used antique
basket presses from
the 1800s to make it).

2019


SPRING


WINE


GUIDE

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