Grenache, or whatever you call it, flourishes and pleases worldwide

Grenache. Garnacha. Garnatxa. Granaccia. Cannonau. No matter the precise ordering of letters one uses to identify this red grape variety, the message is the same: the WORLD loves it! Though just recently overtaken by Merlot and Cabernet Sauvignon, throughout most of the 20th century, Grenache was the world’s most heavily planted red grape variety - let’s see if we can’t guess why…

Perhaps not surprising for a grape as widely planted as Grenache, as alluded to above, the names for the variety are many. Though most widely known by its francofied handle (Grenache), by most accounts Garnacha (the variety’s Spanish language name) has its origins in the Aragon region of northeastern Spain. The one challenge to this claim comes from the Italian island region of Sardinia. Now there can be no denying that the Kingdom of Aragon controlled Sardinia from 1297 until 1713, but the Sardi claim that the Aragonese appropriated THEIR grape, and brought it back to Aragon from whence it spread to Castile, Provence, the Italian mainland, etc. The complete research into the variety’s precise origins have never been done, but the lion’s share of the vine scholars tend to support the vine’s Aragonese origins, despite what the Sardi say, though with all of the genetic testing on vines these days, it seems safe to say that we’ll know sooner than later where Grenache was born. What does seem clear is that both Aragon and Sardinia were growing Grenache LONG before Rioja (another specific region that can make fair use of the variety) adopted it around the turn of the century for its heartiness and resistence to disease.

Undoubtedly, most people have become acquainted with Grenache as part of the charming wines of the Rhone valley, beginning with Chateauneuf-du-Pape, and moving through the “lesser” appellations of Gigondas, Vacqueyras, etc. but of late, Aragon, a region that tends to bottle Grenache as a varietal (only one grape type) wine, as well as Catalunya, that tends to blend Grenache with local (Carinyena, Monastrell) as well as International (Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Syrah) varieties, have been carving out their own spaces in the world’s palate for their own versions of the variety.

Outside of Spain, as was mentioned above, The Rhone is the most celebrated growing zone for the variety in all of France if not the whole world. But for all of its notoriety in southestern France, one could argue that The Rhone’s western neighbor, Languedoc, has a longer history cultivating the variety, and though yet largely unrealized, as great a potential for quality as the Rhone’s Grenache-based wines. As I also mentioned above, Italy has a fair number of acres under Grenache, with the vast majority to be found in Sardinia though there are also pockets of it in Campania where it is called Granaccia, and even in southern Tuscany where the vine goes by the name Alicante. Grenache is also among the most important cultivars in North African and Middle Eastern growing areas like Morocco, Algeria, Lebanon and Israel.

And similar to its now more numerous international compatriots Cabernet and Merlot, Grenache is becoming (or already WAS depending on who you talk to) a truly international variety. Grenache can be found quite easily in California and Australia, and to some extent even in South Africa. South America is the one place that Grenache has not ever really taken hold…

And as with any old and widely dispersed vine variety, Grenache has lots of permutations. Aside from the standard “Garnacha tinta” (a.k.a. Grenache noir) within which there are many sub-varieties like Lladoner Pelut which is Catalunya’s hairy-leafed version, Grenache gris, the pink-skinned mutation found in France and Spain that is the one grape show in most of Spain’s cheap and delicious dry rose wines (as well as France’s more muscular and decidedly less cheap pinks), and even Grenache blanc which plays a large role in both Rhone whites, as well as those from Languedoc and Catalunya.

So why is there so much Grenache floating around? First off, it just makes big, fun wines. When Grenache gets what it needs (more on that in a moment) it typically displays a cornucopia of juicy red fruits (especially strawberry) with a big mouthfeel, good alcoholic heft, and a crowd-pleasing acid/tannin balance that make it a sort of backslapper with a little extra class - like the guy who is maybe just a bit less polished than he could be and maybe drinks a little too much (Grenache tends to be high in alcohol, and therefore when not properly made, a bit “hot”), but these few pecadillos are more than made up for with a no-nonsense honesty and a great sense of humor. Grenache is just a lot of fun to be around. What’s more it ages fairly well, it’s easy to cultivate and high yielding, so growers love it, and it presents few insurmountable difficulties with most foods. And all of this is just in reference to DRY wines - Grenache is even capable of producing very fine sweet wines like Banyuls and Maury…

So with all of this goodness, why isn’t EVERYONE growing Grenache? Well, those who can, and are smart, do, and most of those who don’t, can’t. What I’m driving at here is like reptiles, and certain senior citizens, Grenache loves HEAT! Those of you who know something about the climates of Spain, Languedoc, Rhone, and Australia have already figured this out, and many of the folks in the hotter climes of California are discovering more and more (Hooray!). Essentially, Grenache buds early, so in any place in which winter lingers on a bit into spring, killing frosts can ruin a crop. In addition, Grenache ripens quite late (often as late as the end of October), so similarly, an early Autumn cooling can doom a plot of Grenache to making palish, “green” wines. And concomitantly, Grenache has a nearly unbelieveable resistence to near- or full drought conditions, and in fact, the more Grenache is stressed with water deprivation (within reason, of course) the better wine it makes, yielding wines with deeper color and better structure.

Chances are, you’ve drunk Grenache before, but with all of the far-flung regions in which Grenache can be found, you may not have explored them all. So to your next dinner event, invite a Grenache or two, and I think you’ll see why it has made friends wherever it has gone…

TOM CIOCCO