Grenache Grandeur
Grenache Grandeur
Rude Tasters get stumped again!
Tony Senna really out-did himself with this tasting. Utilizing a vertical of Los Rocas (Calatayud, Spain) along with some disparate new world Grenache wines we were almost completely stumped.
When we arrived, he offered a couple of warm up wines that to me looked somewhere between white wines that had gone bad and red wines that were getting good. When I smelled and tasted them, I couldn’t help but remember tasting some very old German red wines (Pinot Noir from Ahr) at a restaurant in Frankfort MI. They had a sweet Riesling-like honey and spice smell and a tropical fruit-like jamminess. There was something German/Alsatian in the pitch though both were clearly way past their prime. As it turned out, neither wine was nearly as old as it looked and tasted and, ironically, they set the stage for more wines which embodied many of the same high pitched, fragrant, floral components that followed. Perhaps Tony’s affection toward the Grenache grape could have been a clue but here’s what we tasted double blind leaving most of us clueless.
WARM UP WINES
2014 Castle Rock California Cuvee Pinot Noir CA 13.5% ABV $9 The light transparent brownish color was not particularly inviting and the frail old bouquet didn’t compel much confidence either. On the palate, an interestingly off dry mango jelly-like subtlety was doubly confounding. I would wager that if tasted with a blind fold, I would have guessed that both this wine and the second warm up were very old white wines. Almost no one was a fan of this wine.
2013 Castle Rock California Cuvee Pinot Noir CA 13.5% ABV $9 About all you can say about this wine is that almost everyone felt that it was better than, though nearly identical to, the first wine or more succinctly put “better than nothing”.
FIRST FLIGHT
2017 Las Rocas de Alejandro Garnacha, Calatayud SPAIN 14.5% ABV $12 My initial impression was that this wine was a younger fresher version of the warm up wines. With a very bright Rhone-like vivid, inviting raspberry-like nose, it also offered up a floral bouquet and a fairly light mouth feel which, though light, had good length. My score 85 points, group score 86 points 6th place.
2016 Las Rocas de Alejandro Garnacha, Calatayud SPAIN 14.5% ABV $12 The first whiff telegraphed that this wine was very similar to the previous wine. Again, a floral German red wine style with red raspberry, peach and apple presented a light airy vividly fruity character. Although very light, did have persistent substance to it. My score 83 points, group score 87 points 5th place.
2015 Las Rocas de Alejandro Garnacha, Calatayud SPAIN 15% ABV $12 Again, a very bright raspberry-like fragrance built up throughout the tasting experience. This wine merged a lively acidity with a bit firmer tannin than the two previous wines. Otherwise, it was extremely similar to the previous wines with a bit of added spice and did not show any drop off of vitality or fruit intensity. My score 88 points, group score 85 points 7th (last) place tie.
2014 Las Rocas de Alejandro Garnacha, Calatayud SPAIN 15% ABV $12 Here, my score deviated demonstrably from the group. I absolutely loved this wine! Though essentially identical to the three that preceded it, everything was much more amped-up. The wonderful bouquet literally came up and greeted the nose with really rich big complex fruit based on raspberry but loaded with a hint of earth, spice and stone fruits. It epitomized the best attributes of the first three wines. My score 95 points, group score 85 points 7th (last) place tie.
SECOND FLIGHT
2018 Robert Oatley (signature series) G-18 Grenache, McLaren Vale AUSTRALIA 13.5% ABV $14 This wine shows a fine complex version of the previous wine yet, it is 3 ½ years younger! The label states that it is unwooded. One has to wonder how it matured so quickly. Though thoroughly enjoyable, to me, it showed just a bit too much maturity maybe starting to lose its marmalade-like cherry butter candyish unctuousness in favor of forest floor and mushroom nuances typical of age. My score 87 points, group score 91 points 3rd place.
2016 Clementine Carter Grenache, Santa Barbara County CALIFORNIA 14.5% ABV $40 This wine is HUGE! The nose of concentrated berries shows a bit of age but still very fresh. The palate can only be described as gargantuan. Massive lively fresh texture reminds me of the top Rhone Crus finishing complex and remarkably soft for such a big wine. My score 94 points, group score 90 points 4th place.
2017 Shatter (Grenache) IGP Cotes Catalanes, Maury FRANCE 14.9% ABV $24 Gorgeous wine with a fine aroma of clean pure red berry fruit with cinnamon, clove and black pepper nuances. The palate is just as complex and fine textured. The mouth feel is substantial as is the impression of alcohol. Two of the Trinchero Family Estate winemakers, Joel Gott and Charles Bieler collaborated on this effort. My score 90 points, group score 95 points 1st place.
2016 d’Arenberg The Custodian Grenache, McLaren Vale AUSTRALIA 14.5% ABV $20 Easily my favorite of the tasting, this massive new world in-your-face edgy explosion of very complex fruit aromas of black cherry, plum (not prune) reduction is endless. Wow! I would recommend it as the ultimate desert island wine. The perfect expression of vivid bright fruit grows and never stops unfolding. The finish too, reveals layers upon layers. My score 98 points, group score 93 points 2nd place.
As you can see from the bunched up group scores, just about everyone preferred the second flight and the scores didn’t vary much within each flight. Because it is a double blind tasting we did not know anything about the wine other than they were all red. Yet, most of us suspected a strong similarity among the wines of each flight. Though all very Rhone-like, I did not pick up on “warm climate” in the first group, although, the second group could have been Rhone Crus for all I could decipher. Tony cleverly and effectively arranged the second group by anticipated density based on clues he gleaned from the back label descriptions. Oak and Grenache are not always a good combination yet, to my palate, the unwooded Robert Oatley Grenache seemed much more tired and older than its two year older cousin d’Arenberg Custodian which is oak aged. Half of the Shatter which sported very deep black red color and youthful vigor was oak aged in 1-3 year old barrels. A mutual deceased friend of Tony and I, Robert Mayberry, described its telltale bright floral bouquet as “violets jumping out of the glass”. Another oddity is the fact that like vintage port, the d’Arenberg was foot treaded during the early stages of fermentation. All of the wines in flights one and two are 100% Grenache (Garnacha in Spanish).
Enjoy in Good Health,
A Brian Cain, the Michigan Vintner
