Wine talk
By Mark Criden
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Quick: name the great red wine grapes. Syrah, Cabernet, Merlot, and Pinot Noir are easy, and Chianti’s Sangiovese and Barolo’s Nebbiolo might round out your list. If you’re a little geekier, you might even tout Tempranillo, the noble grape that makes Rioja. What you’ll likely forget is the Rodney Dangerfield grape—Grenache—reviled or ignored in much of the world.Familiarity breeds contempt for poor Grenache, planted on more land than any other red grape in the world. AKA Garnacha, it is Spain’s most common red wine grape, dominating plantings over the northern half of the country.
But traditional Iberian winemakers widely regard it as a poor cousin to Tempranillo. It’s also widely planted in California, but mostly used as cheap jug and blush wines. For bargain winemakers, the formula for plonk always seems to start with Grenache.But when carefully grown and vinified, Grenache has its undeniable successes, a sort of vinous Revenge of the Nerds.
A quintessentially Mediterranean variety, careful cultivation produces powerful, raspberry, white pepper, thyme and rosemary-scented reds. Such attention, for instance, has produced numerous outstanding successes in Australia’s Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale. Even in Spain, respect is growing as a result of intense wines produced in the up-and-coming Priorat area where ancient Garnacha vines provide the backbone of many of the greatest bottles.Southern France, though, is the heart of great Grenache production. In the Mediterranean-hugging Languedoc, Grenache produces oceans of excellent, largely bargain-priced reds.
Neighboring French communes of Banyuls, Rivesaltes, and Maury turn Grenache into exceptional sweet fortified reds.It’s in the Southern Rhone Valley, though, where Grenache produces irrefutably world-class wines. Although Southern Rhone reds are normally blends of up to thirteen grape varieties, Grenache is normally the first among equals in the blends, usually joining forces with Syrah and Mourvèdre.
While Syrah adds structure and longevity, and the difficult-to-ripen Mourvèdre can add an exotic gamey, almost animal note, Grenache provides the sweet raspberry-scented lusciousness that highlights this region’s reds.
Fans of Southern Rhone Valley Reds—the Cotes du Rhone and appellations of Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac, Tavel, Rasteau and Cairanne and, most importantly, Chateauneuf-du-Pape—have enjoyed numerous good vintages over the past decade, with only the rain-soaked 2002 being an almost total disaster.
However, the up and coming 2005s look likely to surpass all previous years. Most growers agree that the joy of 2005 is that it has the complete ripeness of 2003 but more acidity to give the wine focus, life,, and longevity. A great year and great wines means a well-deserved boost to the reputation of Grenache.
Suggested bottles (some are 100% Grenache, though most are Grenache blends):
Australia: Clarendon Hills Old Vines; Kaleske Old Vine; Penfolds Cellar Reserve; Greenock Creek Cornerstone; Kaesler The Fave; Burge Family; Rusden Christine’s Vineyard; Two Hands.Spain: L’Ermita, Alvaro Palacios (Priorat); Bodegas Alto Moncayo (Aragon); Artazu Santa Cruz de Artazuri (Navarra); Celler de Capcanes Cabrida (Terragona); Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha Vinas Viejas (Aragon); Artazu Artazuri Garnacha Narvarra; Bodegas Borsao Tres Picos (Aragon); Clos Erasmus (Priorat); Celler Mas Doix (Priorat).
California: Alban; Sine Qua Non; Beckman Vineyards.
Southern Rhone Valley: Chateauneuf-du-Pape; Rayas (all Grenache); Beaucastel; Vielle Julienne; Vieux Donjon; Clos des Papes; Les Cailloux; Pierre Usseglio; Janasse; Clos du Caillou; Marcoux; Pegau; Bosquet de Papes; Charvin; Mordoree; Vieux Telegraphe.Gigondas, Vacqueyras, Lirac and Cotes du Rhone: Domaine Santa Duc; Sainte Cosme; Brusset; Cayron; Montirius; Mordoree Lirac; Les Pallieres; Le Sang des Cailloux; Trignon; Domaine Gramenon Cotes du Rhone; Domaine de Fondreche Cotes du Ventoux; Soumade; Gourt de Martens; Alary Cairanne.
Other Southern France (Sweet, Fortified): Domaine du Mas Blanc, Banyuls; Domaine de la Coume du Roy Maury; Mas Amiel Maury.
Other Southern France (Dry): Puech-Haut, Coupe Roses Cuvee Prestige, Mas des Bressades Cuvee Traditon, Chateau St. Martin de la Garrigue Cuvée Bronzinelle, Domaine Saint-Damien Corbieres, Château La Grande Cassagne ‘La Civette,’ Mas de Guiot.
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Sommeliers in Buffalo are scarce, and are usually called, “Waiter!” But there are knowledgeable wine people at every good joint in town, and we’re giving Spree readers a chance to know them and the lists they put together or administer.
So, sommelier, or wine waiters, or owners, it’s your booty call: send us your lists! Tell us your name, your restaurant’s name, and what’s on the wine list. How big is it (we know there’s a lot of “mine’s bigger than yours” in the wine world.)? What’s the balance between Old World and New World wines? What are your house wine? What’s your most expensive bottle? The oldest? The one you’re most proud of? Most popular? And what would you sneak home if the boss wasn’t looking? Email me at mcriden@yahoo.com, and we’ll give your juice some ink.
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If the wine podcast sits at the crossroads of pure boomer consumerism, GrapeRadio is smack in the middle of the intersection.Each week, hosts Brian Clark, Eric Anderson, Marlene Rossman, Leigh Older, and Jay Selman share their experiences, knowledge, and vino-passion with a wide range of guests on a broad variety of topics, focusing on the enjoyment of wine, wine news, and industry trends. Recent shows have focused on Sake, Riesling, the Wines of Chile, and wine clubs, but any topic has been fair game for the more than 120 podcasts to date. Hallmarks have been guest interviews with winemakers, vineyards owners, retail/wholesale leaders, restaurateurs and sommeliers. Of special note have been shows with Allen Meadows, whose well known publication Burghound is the current gold standard in Burgundy criticism, and Steven Tanzer, editor and publisher of the International Wine Cellar. Like any venture where personal enthusiasm jockeys with professionalism, the shows—which range from twenty to forty minutes—are uneven, but they’re generally of very high and entertaining quality. To subscribe, or for a complete schedule, log onto www.graperadio.com.
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In January, I told you that important wine books like Jancis Robinson’s new edition of the Oxford Companion to Wine are like angel’s visits—few and far between. Along comes Jay McInerney to make a liar out of me. Mcinerney burst into public consciousness in 1984 with his brat pack roman a clef Bright Lights Big City. Though he has never quite recaptured the zeitgeist of that cocaine-fueled era, McInerney has neatly cobbled together a rep as a gossip-sheet regular (he just eloped with his fourth wife, publishing heiress Anne Hearst in November). And for several years now, Mcinerney—damn him—has been the explosively brilliant wine columnist for House & Garden magazine. His first collection of columns was collected in 2000’s glorious Bacchus and Me, and now he’s followed that up with A Hedonist in the Cellar: Adventures in Wine (Knopf, 2006, 272 pages), proving once again that all those substances haven’t wrung the rollicking creativity out
of McInerney. His insight and prose continue to be laser-sharp (he describes a California chardonnay as “ a Ginsu blade concealed in a peach”), and this collection of short essays provides one pleasure after another.Forget success envy. Those of us in the wine critic game are green with jealousy over McInerney’s raw talent. See why for yourself.
Mark Criden (mcriden@yahoo.com) is a non-profit executive and the former chair of the Buffalo Branch of the International Wine & Food Society.
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