The moment when Grenache turned.

[Grenache. Pronounced either gre-nash or gruh-naash, depending on how posh you want to sound, or where you were born. Or, alternatively, you can call it gar-nacka.)

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AUSTRALIAN GRENACHE is about to change. It's a wine variety that's been growing out there in the ground of Australia for more summers than anyone can remember – it was once, mid last century, our most planted red grape variety – and for much of that time it's been seen as a great blender, as a great workhorse and as a provider of warmth. A growing band of devotees however believe that it has been the victim of an historic, gross mis-diagnosis. These producers are determined to flip the grenache script. The gravy, metaphorically speaking, might just be better than the beef.

That is, if they're right, in some cases, and in some places, Australia’s grenache wines might be better than Australia’s shiraz wines, for quality.

These of course are words almost no one ever thought they'd hear spoken. Grenache is the ultimate "300 rows of grunt" variety of Australian red wine, used (and abused) to extend the production of countless red wines, or to brighten them with red berried flavours, or to add pure fruit sweetness. As a single varietal release of any kind of aspiration, high alcohol has been par for the course. There have been many (very) good varietal wines made in Australia with grenache but you'd be hard-pressed to find one that really, genuinely excited.

The change in thinking comes down to this; grenache isn't a workhorse, or inherently hot. It's the opposite: it's delicate.

If this turns out to be true then, put simply, the variety that has spent more time baking out there in the sun than any other - waiting for its grapes to hit high sugar levels - is now about to enjoy its time in it.

Steve Pannell, formerly of Hardy's and now of S.C. Pannell, is not only a leader of this new charge, but was one of the first to both recognise grenache's mis-handling, and what could be unlocked if general practice was to change.

“Until recently," he said, "the perceived problem with grenache was that it is medium-bodied when compared to shiraz especially. So in order to compensate for the lighter weight, it tended to be made over ripe, and have shiraz added to it. It was made in more of a faux shiraz style.

“But with the increase in popularity of lighter reds such as pinot noir, and also the influx of imported wines – many of which are grenache based – this is having an impact on the style of [grenache] wines winemakers are making, or would like to make. Personally, I think of grenache like it’s a warm climate pinot noir.”

This recognition - that "lightness" is not the inherent antithesis of the Australian red wine being - courtesy of the rise in popularity in pinot noir, has lead to what could be, in time, the great unlocking of grenache's potential. Justin McNamee, of McLaren Vale winery Samuel's Gorge, puts it like this: “It wasn’t that long ago that we welcomed two tea spoons of refined sugar with Nescafé instant coffee. The resurgence of attention on grenache can be linked to the evolution in food culture. Diversity and freshness rather than rich sauciness. Big is no longer considered better.”

Grenache – sometimes referred to by its Spanish name garnacha – is a light- to mid-weight wine that’s been encouraged to fight out of its weight division for too long. Instead of being sweet and rough, it can be perfumed, delicate and bright. It’s a variety that thrives in the warm climates of the Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale, and in both of these regions there reside a treasure trove of old grenache vineyards, many of which are ancient. In recent times grenache has (successfully) spread to both Western Australia and to Victoria, though South Australia (including the Clare Valley and Langhorne Creek) remain the heart, soul and everything of Australian grenache. The finest examples of just about anything in life are usually the result of an impossibility. So too it is with grenache. It is a delicate variety that thrives in the harshest of hot, sandy conditions.

If you know the name grenache but think that you've not really consumed it; you're probably wrong. Aussie red lovers have historically consumed more than their fair share of grenache by default. It's been blended in - for the reasons listed above, but also to add spice and perfume to denser, heavier wines. The classic old "Burgundy" wines of McLaren Vale, for instance, almost always had grenache as a key ingredient.

“Unfortunately grenache,” Chapel Hill winemaker Michael Fragos notes, “to most, is either an unknown quantity, or it is a variety that has the baggage of having been associated with cask wine, light reds or fortified wines. Yes, over the years the variety has been utilised to make these different wine styles, however so have so many other varieties. But in old vine grenache there is the possibility to both look back at Australia's grape growing heritage and also to gaze into the evolution of our winemaking styles.”

The real change in perception, for Australian grenache, has been helped along by a completely fresh pair of eyes. Indeed Taras Ochota and his Ochota Barrels project is the kind of creative the Australian wine industry has been missing for a very long time. His fresh take on Australian wine has not only proven magnetic, but has placed him as 'just the right producer, at just the right time'. One of the focusses of Ochota Barrels has been McLaren Vale grenache, which Taras makes in a savoury, earthen, meaty and delicate style. Grenache in the hands of Ochota Barrels is more about texture than density. But then, as Taras Ochota related, “My alpaca, that I ride to the post office to get our mail, is called Garnacha.” Taras Ochota is the kind of producer who doesn't just make grenache; he lives it.

“I think it [grenache] is Australia’s superstar variety, in an underground sort of way,” he says. “When I drink Grand Cru Burgundy it reminds me of grenache. In my winemaking decisions I always think pinot noir, not shiraz. Grenache has been misunderstood. Australia has these ancient surviving parcels [of vines] scattered across Australia, which love our climate and various soils.”

Chester Osborn at D’Arenberg has been championing grenache and the significance of Australia's grenache vineyards for years. This is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that D’Arenberg now has “seventeen wines with grenache as a major feature. Over half of our dry red sold has grenache on the label.”

“Grenache,” Osborn says, “has enormous fruit, complexity and length, more so than most varieties. It also expresses the site and year (in which it was grown) in more contrasting ways than many other varieties.”

The grenache variety, especially in conjunction with minimal oak and alcohol interference, could well be the best loudspeaker on which to hear the, or any, differences and contrasts of season and site. Season and site is of course the lifeblood of wine enthusiasm. It's what makes wine more than just a drink. Grenache then may well the best vein, thanks to its transparency, to peer into in the search for the heart of wine.

Not that making grenache of such high ideals is easy. As Justin McNamee says, “the challenge of making grenache is as exciting and compulsive as that presented by pinot noir.

"Of all of the varieties I work with, grenache has a very dramatic range of flavours, depending on the season. It has a huge spice range, from classic white pepper and black pepper to cinnamon, paprika and darker cloves. The fruit characteristic can vary from year to year. Some years to the lighter berry profile, cranberry and raspberry, in other year’s poached quince to heavier Christmas Cake. I think this makes it a very exciting ride.”

Indeed. Australia has grown grenache for thereabouts 175+ years. We foster some of the world's oldest grenache vineyards. Recent developments would suggest however that we're only just now stepping into the first golden era of Australian grenache.

[Footnote: Taras Ochota, featured in this article, died after a long battle with illness, in 2020, at the age of 49. His actions were written in indelible ink; his influence on Australian wine and on all who knew him was both great and everlasting. We mourn Taras; we carry him with us; we don't forget.]

This article first appeared in Halliday Magazine in 2012. This is the full (and in some cases re-worked) article; all the quotes are as they were in the original publication. Permission to use the above images was gained some time ago for use on The Winefront site. They’ll be replaced when I take suitable images myself. Permission was obtained from the Yangarra winery (a great grenache producer) and 123RF.

Campbell Mattinson writes for The Winefront.

This article was first published in September 2012.