Australian Grenache: Panel tasting results

Beth Pearce MW, Sara Muirhead MW and Ben Chan tasted 51 wines, with 7 Outstanding and 25 Highly Recommended

Australian Grenache: Panel tasting scores

51 wines tasted

Exceptional 0

Outstanding 7

Highly recommended 25

Recommended 15

Commended 4

Entry criteria: Producers and UK agents were invited to submit their 100% Grenache wines from the 2020, 2021 and 2022 vintages

With the original plantings taking place in 1838, Grenache was one of the first varieties to take root in Australia. Indeed, the country boasts the world’s oldest productive Grenache vines, planted in 1848, and its wealth of old-vine material has helped fuel the rise of single-varietal Grenache wines of increasingly notable quality.

‘There’s now a spectrum of Grenache that’s different to what people would have expected, even five or so years ago,’ said lead judge Beth Pearce MW. ‘There are the old-school, rich, opulent styles and the new-wave Pinot-like styles,’ explained Ben Chan.

‘The best wines have that sort of concentration that comes from old vines – all that Pinot-like perfume, but with a bit more muscle,’ Pearce added.

Scroll down to see notes and scores of the top-scoring wines from our Australian Grenache tasting

A variety to seek out

Identifying which style is in your bottle isn’t easy. ‘It’s very hard to know what you’re going to get,’ noted Pearce. This is one category where it’s important to identify your favourite producers and wines. But you can certainly expect quality from Aussie Grenache.

An impressive 63% of the wines in the tasting were ranked Highly recommended or above. ‘There was a high quality level,’ noted Sara Muirhead MW. ‘But there were quite a lot of wines that were quite ambitiously priced and the quality didn’t always match up.’

Nonetheless, the panel noted the innovation of some of the winemakers working with Grenache. ‘In terms of the sort of style producers were going after, it’s interesting to see how specific some were about how they age the wines,’ said Pearce.

Which regions should readers look out for? McLaren Vale and Barossa dominated, with the former claiming the lion’s share of the Outstanding bottles.

Within McLaren Vale, one name should definitely be on your radar: ‘Blewitt Springs stood out, as I expected it might, because there are some great vineyards there – those sandy soils are well known for top-quality Grenache,’ said Pearce.

Although it accounts for just 1.1% of Australia’s total vineyard area, Grenache punches well above its weight. Seek it out.

See all the wines from the Australian Grenache tasting

What to eat with Australian Grenache, by Fiona Beckett

The assumption that Aussie Grenache is all about high-alcohol blockbusters is out of date, as this tasting shows. Nevertheless, that full-bodied style is still widely available and popular.

It particularly suits substantial wintry food – dishes such as slow-braised ox cheek and other casseroles, and hearty steak pies – but can also be a great pairing for an American-style barbecue with its smoked meats.

And because of its relatively soft tannins, this style would work well with a cheeseboard, especially with stronger hard cheeses and blues. But the fresher, younger styles are more like Pinot Noir when it comes to pairing – often made in a quaffable style better suited to charcuterie or simply grilled meats, or, like Pinot, to duck.

Those styles would also be good with root vegetable-based dishes, including roast carrots, parsnip and beetroot, and also with roast pumpkin or squash. There’s always a slight sweetness to Grenache that chimes with a corresponding sweet note in a dish.

Australian Grenache panel tasting scores

Wines were tasted blind

The judges

Beth Pearce MW is the recently appointed head of buying at Flint Wines. Her extensive experience in the wine industry includes roles in retail and buying at Majestic and most recently buying director at Lay & Wheeler

Sara Muirhead MW is a wine consultant and communicator with more than 30 years’ experience in the wine trade. Her current focuses include wine tastings and events. She became an MW in 2008, and is a DWWA judge for Australia

Ben Chan is a senior wine specialist for Berry Bros & Rudd and a DWWA judge. After working as a winemaker in his native Australia, he is now based in London, where he was a sommelier at Hakkasan Mayfair and a WSET examiner

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