| Grenache Tasting Report |
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Our collection of vino tasters ventured into the Greek food
restaurant, Zorba’s on Preston road and Plano Parkway for
this month’s Grenache wine tasting report. Along with the
Greek food, we sampled nine different Grenache wines from
around the world. First let me say a little about Zorba’s.
The food was fantastic and although I probably could not
pronounce half of the things I ate, I thoroughly enjoyed
everything that I did. The waiter was a lot of fun, he insisted
in a Greek accent that his name was Brad Pitt and we were
not to yell it out loudly because he did not want us to blow
his cover with his fans. The manager bent over backwards to
help us out through the always-difficult check situation. It
was just a great experience from start to finish.
And now for the wines. Spain was the country that was the
most represented in our tasting having a total of four entries,
followed closely by Australia with three. Then there was a
Chateauneuf du Pape from France and a Grenache wine
from Napa Valley, California. If you had to declare one
country as the victor in this tasting, I would suppose
Australia would be the solid choice taking the first, third and
fourth spots in our tasting. The California Grenache also
performed well coming in second. Seeing how the French
Grenache came in fifth, that meant that clearly Spain has got
some work to do in order to impress our inexperienced
palates as all of their wines occupied the last four spots in
our tasting results. Why did Spain do so poorly while the
Australian’s excelled? Well, going back through the
comments that people were making, I noticed that whenever
one of the Australian wines were being tasted (we taste them
‘blind’ in a brown bag) people stated in their notes that the
wine showed a lot more “in your face” fruit than the other
wines. This is fairly typical for the American palate to prefer
such a style of a wine. The Spanish wines were all more
rustic and earthy. I thought they were charming though.
I wasn’t sure if we were going to really like this style of wine,
but as a whole, we were all pleasantly surprised. Most of the
wines were very enjoyable, in fact, there wasn’t a single one
that I did not like. There was one taster who, by judging
from their wine scores, apparently was not a huge Grenache
fan, but I believe everyone else had plenty that they liked.
Going back through my notes I noticed that I too preferred
the Australians and the lone California Grenache over the
rest so I guess that makes me a typical American wine
drinker. At least when it comes to Grenache wines anyway.
One final note about these Grenache wines, the food we ate
was full-flavored and very strong, but most of the Grenache
wines were not overwhelmed by the food in the least. Take it
from me, Grenache makes an excellent choice for pairing
with food.
restaurant, Zorba’s on Preston road and Plano Parkway for
this month’s Grenache wine tasting report. Along with the
Greek food, we sampled nine different Grenache wines from
around the world. First let me say a little about Zorba’s.
The food was fantastic and although I probably could not
pronounce half of the things I ate, I thoroughly enjoyed
everything that I did. The waiter was a lot of fun, he insisted
in a Greek accent that his name was Brad Pitt and we were
not to yell it out loudly because he did not want us to blow
his cover with his fans. The manager bent over backwards to
help us out through the always-difficult check situation. It
was just a great experience from start to finish.
And now for the wines. Spain was the country that was the
most represented in our tasting having a total of four entries,
followed closely by Australia with three. Then there was a
Chateauneuf du Pape from France and a Grenache wine
from Napa Valley, California. If you had to declare one
country as the victor in this tasting, I would suppose
Australia would be the solid choice taking the first, third and
fourth spots in our tasting. The California Grenache also
performed well coming in second. Seeing how the French
Grenache came in fifth, that meant that clearly Spain has got
some work to do in order to impress our inexperienced
palates as all of their wines occupied the last four spots in
our tasting results. Why did Spain do so poorly while the
Australian’s excelled? Well, going back through the
comments that people were making, I noticed that whenever
one of the Australian wines were being tasted (we taste them
‘blind’ in a brown bag) people stated in their notes that the
wine showed a lot more “in your face” fruit than the other
wines. This is fairly typical for the American palate to prefer
such a style of a wine. The Spanish wines were all more
rustic and earthy. I thought they were charming though.
I wasn’t sure if we were going to really like this style of wine,
but as a whole, we were all pleasantly surprised. Most of the
wines were very enjoyable, in fact, there wasn’t a single one
that I did not like. There was one taster who, by judging
from their wine scores, apparently was not a huge Grenache
fan, but I believe everyone else had plenty that they liked.
Going back through my notes I noticed that I too preferred
the Australians and the lone California Grenache over the
rest so I guess that makes me a typical American wine
drinker. At least when it comes to Grenache wines anyway.
One final note about these Grenache wines, the food we ate
was full-flavored and very strong, but most of the Grenache
wines were not overwhelmed by the food in the least. Take it
from me, Grenache makes an excellent choice for pairing
with food.
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| Here are the tasting results: |
| Burge Family Winemakers Clochemerle 2002 – Barossa Valley, Australia |
| Grenache 54% / Syrah 40% / Mouvedre 6% |
Nose – Very sensual and interesting
layers of smoke, cherry and dusty
leather
Taste – Delicious, much more fruit than
the nose implies with layers of cherry,
raspberry and black licorice that follow
through on a long finish
This was the third wine in our tasting
and after the first two, it was definitely a
welcome change. I loved the nose, very
masculine. This wine has some great
muscle too. It was not to be outdone by
the food.
layers of smoke, cherry and dusty
leather
Taste – Delicious, much more fruit than
the nose implies with layers of cherry,
raspberry and black licorice that follow
through on a long finish
This was the third wine in our tasting
and after the first two, it was definitely a
welcome change. I loved the nose, very
masculine. This wine has some great
muscle too. It was not to be outdone by
the food.
| Score B+ |
| Price $17.00 |
| Neyers Hudson Vineyards Grenache 2002 – Napa Valley, California |
Nose – Very powerful and heady with
blackberry, eucalyptus and tobacco
Taste – Big fat and full bodied with an
assortment of great spices like thyme,
pepper and menthol which were
immediately followed up with layers of
black currant and strawberry that
flowed effortlessly through to the finish.
If I had to find one critical thing to say
about this wine it would be that the
menthol aroma was really powerful. It
overshadowed some of the other
aromas, but you should not take that to
mean that this was not a very good wine
because it certainly was. Neyers is
probably more famous for their big 16%
alcohol Zinfandels than anything else.
blackberry, eucalyptus and tobacco
Taste – Big fat and full bodied with an
assortment of great spices like thyme,
pepper and menthol which were
immediately followed up with layers of
black currant and strawberry that
flowed effortlessly through to the finish.
If I had to find one critical thing to say
about this wine it would be that the
menthol aroma was really powerful. It
overshadowed some of the other
aromas, but you should not take that to
mean that this was not a very good wine
because it certainly was. Neyers is
probably more famous for their big 16%
alcohol Zinfandels than anything else.
| Score B+ |
| Price $18.00 |
| D’Arenberg The Derelict Vineyard Grenache 2002 – McLaren Vale, Australia |
Nose – Big and over the top with coffee
beans, boysenberry and blackberry jam
Taste – Awesome, giant and assertive
with complex layers of dark fruit, black
cherries, black pepper and a whole host
of other spices on its full, jammy bodied
frame and a huge, ongoing finish.
If we were judging based on the number
of first place votes, this wine would have
been the clear winner. In fact, I liked it
the best by far! An “A” scoring wine in
my book. However, there were a few
that really did not like it at all which I
completely understand. This wine is not
subtle, not in the least and it was
completely unlike the rest. In these
blind tastings, sometimes standing out
from the others can be a bad thing. In
my opinion, it wasn’t, but what do I
know?
beans, boysenberry and blackberry jam
Taste – Awesome, giant and assertive
with complex layers of dark fruit, black
cherries, black pepper and a whole host
of other spices on its full, jammy bodied
frame and a huge, ongoing finish.
If we were judging based on the number
of first place votes, this wine would have
been the clear winner. In fact, I liked it
the best by far! An “A” scoring wine in
my book. However, there were a few
that really did not like it at all which I
completely understand. This wine is not
subtle, not in the least and it was
completely unlike the rest. In these
blind tastings, sometimes standing out
from the others can be a bad thing. In
my opinion, it wasn’t, but what do I
know?
| Score B+ |
| Price Around $30.00 |
| Fire Block Old Vine Grenache 2002 – Clare Valley, Australia |
Nose – An interesting balance of
blackberry fruit and tobacco leaves
Taste – Very pleasant. Not over the top
like the other Aussie wines, with cherry
and strawberry overtones and a little
mocha on the finish.
Don’t let the screw cap fool you, this
wine meant business. Right about the
time we started to pour this wine, the
table next to us had ordered this God
awful, stinking cheese that was set
ablaze by the waiter in some Polynesian
fashion crippling everyone’s palate at
our table for a while. I should have
liked to of had another crack at this
wine again for further evaluation.
blackberry fruit and tobacco leaves
Taste – Very pleasant. Not over the top
like the other Aussie wines, with cherry
and strawberry overtones and a little
mocha on the finish.
Don’t let the screw cap fool you, this
wine meant business. Right about the
time we started to pour this wine, the
table next to us had ordered this God
awful, stinking cheese that was set
ablaze by the waiter in some Polynesian
fashion crippling everyone’s palate at
our table for a while. I should have
liked to of had another crack at this
wine again for further evaluation.
| Score B |
| Price $20.00 |
| Pere Anselme La Foile du Pape Non-Vintage – Chateauneuf du Pape, France |
| Grenache 80% / Syrah 7% / Mouvedre 7% / Cinsault 6% |
Nose – A throwback to another era with
earthy mushrooms and sun-dried
cherries, followed up with a touch of
mint.
Taste – Although it is only medium-
bodied, there are plenty of bold tannins
to counter the cherry and mint flavors
with a little musty earth thrown in to
boot.
I think that most of us knew which wine
this was as we were tasting it. The odd
shape of the bottle was a dead
giveaway. I was very surprised that this
wine was not more inky and dense like
the other Chateauneuf du Papes I have
tasted.
earthy mushrooms and sun-dried
cherries, followed up with a touch of
mint.
Taste – Although it is only medium-
bodied, there are plenty of bold tannins
to counter the cherry and mint flavors
with a little musty earth thrown in to
boot.
I think that most of us knew which wine
this was as we were tasting it. The odd
shape of the bottle was a dead
giveaway. I was very surprised that this
wine was not more inky and dense like
the other Chateauneuf du Papes I have
tasted.
| Score B |
| Price $32.00 |
| Vina Alarba Old Vine Grenache 2003 – Calatayad, Spain |
Nose – Very youthful with tons of
candylike blackberry jam and black
pepper accents
Taste – Very rich and full-bodied with
intense black fruits like blackberries
and black currants. Solid acidity gives it
good foundation and food appeal.
Lovely finish
If you are looking for a great wine under
$10.00, this would be a great choice!
Excellent with food and a pleasure to
drink. It scored high on most people’s
lists and was only dragged down by a
few scorers. This is a big seller at
Beverage City, or so I’m told.
candylike blackberry jam and black
pepper accents
Taste – Very rich and full-bodied with
intense black fruits like blackberries
and black currants. Solid acidity gives it
good foundation and food appeal.
Lovely finish
If you are looking for a great wine under
$10.00, this would be a great choice!
Excellent with food and a pleasure to
drink. It scored high on most people’s
lists and was only dragged down by a
few scorers. This is a big seller at
Beverage City, or so I’m told.
| Score B |
| Price $8.00 |
| Borsao Grenache 2002 – Borja, Spain |
Nose – A bit earthy with tobacco and
accentuated with menthol and
blackberries
Taste – Very acidic showing loads of
sour cherries and not much else. Very
one-dimensional.
Okay, to be completely fair, we tasted
this after the d’Arenberg and to me, any
of these wines would have been a
disappointment after that wine.
However, having said that, I felt that
this wine had very little to offer the
palate and actually preferred the two
lowest scoring wines over this one.
accentuated with menthol and
blackberries
Taste – Very acidic showing loads of
sour cherries and not much else. Very
one-dimensional.
Okay, to be completely fair, we tasted
this after the d’Arenberg and to me, any
of these wines would have been a
disappointment after that wine.
However, having said that, I felt that
this wine had very little to offer the
palate and actually preferred the two
lowest scoring wines over this one.
| Score B- |
| Price $7.00 |
| Lelia Garnacha 2001 – Carinena, Spain |
Nose – Fruits of a sweeter persuasion
with the likes of strawberries and
cherries
Taste – A little green upfront but there
is a strong presence of rich cherries mid-
palate with a touch of strawberry on the
short finish.
This was fruity and somewhat sweeter
than the other wines in the tasting. It
got dominated by the food as well and
the finish disappeared rapidly. The
price isn’t bad though.
with the likes of strawberries and
cherries
Taste – A little green upfront but there
is a strong presence of rich cherries mid-
palate with a touch of strawberry on the
short finish.
This was fruity and somewhat sweeter
than the other wines in the tasting. It
got dominated by the food as well and
the finish disappeared rapidly. The
price isn’t bad though.
| Score B- |
| Price $8.00 |
| Torres Gran Sangre do Toro Reserva 2000 – Catalunya, Spain |
| 60% Garnacha / 25% Carinen / 15% Syrah |
Nose – Old world style with dusty
leather aromas, sour cherries and
menthol
Taste – Very rustic, but charmingly so
with leather saddle upfront, plums and
sour cherry mid-palate and ringing
acidity on the short finish.
Once again, I have to disagree with my
fellow tasters on this wine. This wine
did not deserve to come in last in my
opinion. I really liked it for all the
things its not. Not pretentious, not
robust, it’s just quietly charming. It was
also very complimentary with the food
we were eating.
leather aromas, sour cherries and
menthol
Taste – Very rustic, but charmingly so
with leather saddle upfront, plums and
sour cherry mid-palate and ringing
acidity on the short finish.
Once again, I have to disagree with my
fellow tasters on this wine. This wine
did not deserve to come in last in my
opinion. I really liked it for all the
things its not. Not pretentious, not
robust, it’s just quietly charming. It was
also very complimentary with the food
we were eating.
| Price $14.00 |
| Score B- |