Hi I'm Chris Barlow and welcome to Hospitality Crew's website and the wine information that today is regarding the grape variety Grenache.

Grenache is grown widely in Europe, predominantly in the South of France and Spain, and now all through the new world countries.  That is Australia, the US, and South Africa.

Grenache particularly is blended with other red varieties.  It occasionally appears as 100 percent varietal, but predominantly you will see it blended with Shiraz, Mataro or "Mourvedre" as its known in France.  These GSM styles are popping up everywhere simply because its becoming a more popular style and appreciated more and more with different food groups.

In the South of France of course the typical sort of country style peasant dishes, braised meats, they work incredible well with Grenache based wines.

Châteauneuf Du Pape is an area that is recognised as producing the highest expression of a Grenache based wine and that is predominantly Grenache with these other red varieties in support.  Châteauneuf Du Pape copies or clones are made in Australia with all these varieties together, but of course in a new world style.

Still earthy and savoury and dense and tannic wines, but perhaps just lacking that French touch that we come to know from their wines.

Grenache can also be made into a rosé.  A lighter bodied slightly sweet wine that matches up very, very well with spicy Asian dishes of all things.   It seems an unlikely match, but in fact it does match up very well with spiciness because of the slight residual sugar that’s maintained in some Grenache rosé’s. Not all but most.

GSM wines in Australia are produced predominatenly from the Barossa valley or South Australia simply because that’s were Grenache is mostly grown.  It’s a grape variety that lends itself very, very well to heat affected and drought affected areas.

Grown in those very dry lands of central Spain and Southern France but also the flats of the Barossa.   Were we find some very old dry grown, that is un-irrigated bush vine, Grenache.   Un-irrigated and un-trellaced, so that’s simply a bush growing in the ground.  The resulting wine is a very dense earthy and savoury one.

Predominately the fruit notes that come through with Grenache are red current or some say raspberry qualities.

In the GSM style, the tannins are softened with that combination of Shiraz and Mourvedre.  We can enjoy this type of wine in our country with lovely grilled meats in the barbeque.  Very simple food.  It does not call for refined, elegant types of dishes.  It’s a wine for comfort food.

Please enjoy the Grenache next time your considering a barbeque, or perhaps want to sit around the fire place in winter time with your favorite company and enjoy a heart warming luscious red.

Cheers!