On the grapevine: Grenache comes out of the shadows

WE all know, these days, when we are drinking a Chardonnay, Cabernet or Pinot Noir - the grape's name is plastered across the label.

But I wonder how many people realise it when they are drinking the Grenache/Garnacha grape which is widely found in very hot regions like southern France and Spain.

Wines, as much as any other industry are prone to changing fashions and fads.

Wine makers across Europe have spent the last decade digging up any Grenache vines they could find and replacing them with easier selling, more profitable international varieties like Cabernet and Chardonnay.

Why was it dug up? Well mostly because it tends to produce fairly ordinary robust high alcohol reds and roses without great style or distinction.

Usually the Grenache is blended, hiding behind other grapes for protection.

We have been drinking it for years without realising because in the south of France it is the backbone of many fairly cheap, basic table wines.

But it is also found in quality wines like Chateauneuf du Pape, Tavel, Lirac, Gigondas and Rioja.

Indeed, perhaps it is the realisation that some wines - like top Chateauneuf du Pape Chateau Rayas - are made from 100 per cent Grenache that has started a craze for the grape.

All of a sudden Grenache has become almost a cult grape. Everybody wants to start planting it again and wine makers are thinking seriously about making good quality wines from it.

In Navarra, Spain, where roses were traditionally made from this grape, they know how good it can be. But in the USA and Australia many winemakers are just discovering it.

Hence the sudden appearance of peppery, spicy, plummy wines with pronounced fruit and a slightly unfamiliar but definitely interesting style.

Certainly this pale coloured, thin skinned grape is a change from its usual neighbours ,the big tannic bruisers like Syrah and Mourvedre that always need time to soften.

Next week we will look at some of the best value and best quality Grenache wines on the market here.

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