Take the grenache challenge
It has had an up-and-down history here, but I love what is being achieved in Australia with grenache.
The results of the sixth annual James Halliday Grenache Challenge were released on November 4. I’m the patron of the Challenge, but play no part in the judging (other than the use of my name). I accepted the invitation to be involved because I love what is being achieved in Australia with grenache. It has had an up-and-down history here. Its moment of glory was the 1969 vintage, with its crush of 32,000 tonnes representing more than half of Australia’s total crush. In 1979 it produced 52,000 tonnes, but shiraz eclipsed it with 72,000 tonnes. This rate of growth carried with it the seeds of its own destruction: an acute surplus of red grapes, led by Barossa shiraz and grenache, was “cured” by the government-funded Vine Pull Scheme of 1987.
Yet in 2021 and 2022, grenache’s price per tonne was higher than any other mainstream variety. This transformation has been driven by changes in the vineyard and winery alike. Gone are the last vestiges of grenache’s life as a fortified wine, ripened to 16 baume or more and with no sense of place. In recent years we have seen Turkey Flat winning the Jimmy Watson Trophy in 2017; exploration of the Blewitt Springs district in McLaren Vale, led by Yangarra Estate High Sands; Serrat’s exquisite Yarra Valley Grenache; Swinney Farvie from Frankland River; and now Swan Valley’s Mandoon Estate Discovery Grenache winning this year’s Challenge.
Mandoon’s extremely talented winemaker Ryan Sudano decided some years ago that one of Mandoon’s three blocks of 60-year-old vines should be converted to bush vines, removing all the old posts and wires. He says: “The bush vines create a lighter and more lifted style that is easy to drink but still full of character.” 780 bottles were made, the wine neither fined, filtered or stabilised, the only addition minimal SO2 at bottling. “Natural wine,” quips Sudano.