The weather in the Washington area just can’t seem to make up its mind. One week it warms up to the mid-60s, but the next week it plunges right back down. What wine do you drink when the weather has more mood swings than a teenager? Some red wines can be too big for the warmer days and some white wines can be too thin for colder nights. Enter grenache, a red grape known more for its supporting role in French Chateauneuf du Pape wines than as the lovely little star of the show it can be. And it is the perfect transitional wine, like Goldilocks’ last bowl of oatmeal — it’s not too big, it’s not too little, it’s just right.
Surprisingly, grenache is one of the most widely planted grape varietals in the world. It is generally spicy, with accents on soft red and black berry flavors and, thanks to mild tannins, has a softer mouthfeel on the palate.
In France, it is usually the dominant grape when blended with other Rhone Valley varietals such as syrah, mourvedre and cinsaut. It is also found in many rose wines in southern France and parts of Spain. It has gained huge popularity in Australia where its softer fruit qualities are used in “GSM” blends with syrah and mourvedre.
I grew up in Central California, where grenache was planted throughout the San Joaquin Valley where it was mainly used as a blending component for jug wines. In the mid-1980s, it became the little darling of the Rhone Rangers movement in central California where it first gained a cult following and then later, much-deserved commercial success. Today, it can also be found thriving in Napa Valley as well as southern Oregon and parts of Washington state.
Here are a few of my favorite grenache wines to enjoy during the next few winter/spring weather weeks — and beyond. Retail prices are approximate.
From the Languedoc region of France comes the delicious 2007 Domaine Cabirau Grenache Serge and Tony ($16), made from a small vineyard owned by importer Dan Kravitz and named in honor of the two gentlemen who oversee the vines and winemaking. Boasting an aromatic bouquet of black fruit and violets on the nose and flavors of ripe black raspberry and smoked meat on the front of the tongue, this wine is both bright and complex at the same time.
Australian winemakers love playing around with grenache and I think the 2008 Trevor Jones Boots Grenache ($15), from the Barossa Valley, is a very successful experiment. It shows off wonderful aromas of black cherry and blueberry jam followed up by luscious flavors of kirsch, licorice, and spice on a medium-bodied frame. The fruit-driven finish is round and expansive.
One of my favorite Spanish wines in the under $20 category is the 2008 QUO Grenache Old Vines ($15), from the Aragon region. This lovely wine displays aromas of cherry and strawberry on the bouquet and lush, silky flavors of raspberry, strawberry and jammy red berry that keep building and deepening through the finish.
Available directly from the winery in Yakima, Wash., is the highly regarded 2008 McCrea Cellars Grenache ($28). It
blends in touches of syrah, counoise, cinsault and mourvedre for a wine exudes scents of cherries, dried herbs and forest floor on the bouquet and flavors of black cherry, red plums and blueberry on the expansive palate.
If you really want to splurge on a special wine, then try to get your hands on a bottle of 2008 Tablas Creek Grenache ($35)
from the Paso Robles region of California. It has a complex palate of sweet and sour cherries, strawberry jam, cigar box and bramble. The finish is flashy, with notes of dried herbs and black pepper, supported by a round, lush texture.
