This is another grape that is at home in France,

although Grenache hasn’t found the world wide

appeal of it’s cousin Cabernet Sauvignon.

It is most famous in the warm Southern Rhône where it provides the backbone for most blended wines and is the key component of Châteauneuf du Pape where some wines are even made from 100% Grenache. In the Languedoc it plays a key role in many blends and is responsible for much of the Rosé wine from Southern France.

As a grape that loves the warmth, it is perhaps not surprising, that it is the most widely grown grape in Spain where it is known as Garnacha. In Rioja it is blended with Tempranillo to produce some of the finest and most highly regarded wines from Spain. The very best Garnacha wines come from Priorat in Catalonia, where fruit from old Garnacha vines produce wines of supreme intensity and depth of fruit.

Grenache was once Australia`s most widely planted black grape but much of it was uprooted in the late 70s to make room for more fashionable grapes. However plantings have been on the increase since the early 1990s.