Longhop Old Vine Grenache and Friends Vertical

[Michael McNally]

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Five tasters and ten bottles of Grenache (or so we thought when we sat down to taste).

The opportunity arose to get some back vintages of the Longhop Old Vine Grenache, so I ordered the 2020, 2019, 2017, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2007 and 2006. I threw in a couple of other inexpensive Barossa Grenache from the cellar.

Overall the Longhops showed very high quality, particularly when the roughly $20 per bottle price tag is considered. We also found that they aged better than the critics suggested (most reviews give them 5-8 years).

Apart from the massive jump from the 2020 to the 2019 in terms of development, there was a predictable development and the 2007 and 2006 were, while showing considerable tertiary development, still very much alive and kicking.

2020 – Showing well for such a young wine. Vibrant colour with purple tinges. Fair bit of musk stick/redskin/lollyshop on the nose, but no real sweetness to the fruit. Excellent start.
2019 – Immediately more developed in colour. Dusty/bacon nose. Plenty of darker fruits and berries. Very savoury. Lovely finish.
2017 – Similar to the 2019 with limited lollyshop and darker fruit pastille to the nose. Tannin more noticeable on this and the whole bunch is well managed, Very savoury. Excellent.
2014 Burge Family Winemakers Garnacha – Much darker wine. Strawberries and cream. Far more tannin than the Longhops. An interesting contrast and a very good wine.
2013 – First wine really showing its secondary characters, particularly on the nose. Again, very savoury fruit with a touch more earthiness and forest floor. Excellent
2012 Head Wines OV Grenache – Plenty of Redskins on the nose. Again darker fruit charcters than the Longhops. Not sure this bottle has aged well. Pulls up a bit short and would have expected more from the vintage.
2011 – Good effort from the vintage. Secondary characters on the nose like tobacco. Plum and berry fruit. Again maybe a bit short.
2007 – Very tertiary nose with smoke and charcuterie on the nose. Still some fruit but also muscatels and almost peat like undergrowth. Good length and finish. Excellent
2006 – Complexity! Very similar to the 2007. Slightly darker and fuller fruit. Again, mushrooms, earthiness and forest floor. Good persistence. Excellent.

There was a mixup with the 2012 Longhop turning out to be a Cabernet (fleshy, medium-bodied, varietal, nice) rather than a Grenache, but I think we saw enough to get a handle on the style and the development.

The 2007 was the WOTN with one first and three seconds edging out the 2006 with two firsts and one second. The 2020, 2017 and 2011 each received votes from two tasters, and the 2013 getting one first and the 2019 a single point.
Rens – 2006, 2007, 2017
Matt – 2017, 2011, 2020
Alex – 2007, 2006, 2019
Scott – 2013, 2007, 2011
Michael – 2006, 2007, 2020

Most importantly, we had great conversation, great cheese, great company and a great time.

Cheers

Michael

[ticklenow1]

2012 Head Old Vine was a bit of a disappointment for me too. I went long after the 09 & 10 being so good and 12 being such a good vintage. But I found it lacked the quality of the '09 & '10, which is a bit perplexing considering the quality overall of 2012 in the Barossa. Alex normally nails Grenache but I'm not sure what went wrong with the '12. Still an OK wine but no way near the standard of some of his other efforts over the years.

Longhop has a great QPR and was a go to quaffer at one stage for us.

Cheers
Ian

[rens]

Yes, a very nice evening, with some very interesting conversation and some nice wines. Thanks again for hosting Michael.