Bush vine grenache, Heathcote
I have two bottles of grenache in front of me; one from 2022, the other from 2023. They’re both from the same, tiny vineyard in Heathcote. The fact that both of these wines are good is not so unusual; the fact that they are from a young, bush-vine, interestingly-patterned vineyard in Heathcote is more so, especially given that the variety is grenache.
That is, bush vine grenache in Heathcote.
The owner of this vineyard is Simon Osicka, who runs the Paul Osicka vineyard and winery (Paul is Simon’s late father). Simon planted this vineyard by hand. I tasted a barrel sample of the 2021 release a couple of years ago and when I said that it was good Simon breathed a sigh of relief and said, That’s lucky because it wasn’t much fun planting it.
Simon, before he returned to the family winery, was a senior winemaker at Hardy’s in South Australia. He’s worked with a lot of bush vine grenache vineyards in his time, and with a lot of the grapes they grow. This vineyard and the wines it produces pay homage to that, but if the 2022 and 2023 releases are anything to go by, the wines Simon is growing and making here are fundamentally of their own design.
These wines from this small, new, bush vine grenache vineyard in Heathcote are both beautiful, and unique.
“Paul Osicka’s wines from this small, new, bush vine grenache vineyard in Heathcote are both beautiful, and unique.”
The 2022 Paul Osicka Grenache is svelte, rich, complex and more. The herb notes are the thing; they’re complex, they’re harmonious, and they add a Campari-like edge, but they’re tempered by dark chocolate, chicory, blood orange and sweet cherry-plum flavours. There’s something both distinctly Australian about this wine, even distinctly Heathcote, and yet also distinctly Italianate.
It’s a rich Italian-like wine, grown in Australia, using a French-Spanish variety, by a winemaker of Czech heritage.
It’s a similar story with the 2023 Paul Osicka Grenache. This is a lighter and more delicate release, but not at the expense of presence and especially not at the expense of persistence. This release is a nebbiolo in grenache clothing; actually it feels quite Grenache, truth be told, but the tannin framework is in that sleight-of-hand light-but-insistent mould.
I’d buy both these wines, for their own reasons. My personal preference is for the 2023 even though the 2022 is the more beguiling wine.
Full reviews of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 Paul Osicka Grenache releases are on The Winefront.
Campbell Mattinson writes for The Winefront.