TN: 2004 Reynell Basket Pressed Grenache

[n4sir]

2004 Reynell Basket Pressed Grenache, McLaren Vale (cork): Savoury nose of toasty/spicy oak and mushroom, rather sandy/oyster-like at times, a whiff of sweet leather/wintergreen and coriander; sweet cherry/confected entry leading to a light to medium weight, equally sweet/cordial-like mid-palate, finishing minty and not particularly long. Not very impressive at the moment, although it is still young and could flesh out.

Cheers,
Ian

[Tristram Shandy]

Don't know if waiting will help this one. I had some of the 2002 Reynell Grenache earlier this year and it had completely fallen apart. Truly undrinkable - and I'm a grenache lover. I'm beginning to wonder about the value of letting straight grenache age. I've had a few examples from both McLaren Vale and the Barossa that had 8 - 10 years on them, and they were not really any better for the wait. Some leather characters, but often at the expense of the spicy characters and distinctive nose.

I have been told by some winemakers that it takes some shiraz or mataro (or both) to keep the grenache honest, so maybe a blend would make the wait worthwhile.

I'm going to have a bit of a tasting next month of Australian grenache dominant blends, along with a bottle of 1994 Chateau de Beaucastel CnP which is meant to be right in its drinking window at the moment. It will be interesting to see how the New World blends measure up to an Old World standard.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone who had held onto a South Aussie grenache for more than ten years with gratifying results.

Cheers,

Tristram Shandy

[n4sir]

Don't know if waiting will help this one. I had some of the 2002 Reynell Grenache earlier this year and it had completely fallen apart. Truly undrinkable - and I'm a grenache lover. I'm beginning to wonder about the value of letting straight grenache age. I've had a few examples from both McLaren Vale and the Barossa that had 8 - 10 years on them, and they were not really any better for the wait. Some leather characters, but often at the expense of the spicy characters and distinctive nose.

I have been told by some winemakers that it takes some shiraz or mataro (or both) to keep the grenache honest, so maybe a blend would make the wait worthwhile.

I'm going to have a bit of a tasting next month of Australian grenache dominant blends, along with a bottle of 1994 Chateau de Beaucastel CnP which is meant to be right in its drinking window at the moment. It will be interesting to see how the New World blends measure up to an Old World standard.

I'd be interested to hear of anyone who had held onto a South Aussie grenache for more than ten years with gratifying results.

Cheers,

Tristram Shandy

I've heard the exact same thing from a number of quarters - grenache needs a blending partner (or two) to really show something with bottle age (particularly from the Barossa).

That said, Ive had a couple of couple of very good d'Arenberg Custodian's over 10 years of age, although it must be noted that these were from the late '90s before it was downgraded to the standard of the Footbolt/d'Arry's blend (and now effectively replaced by the Cadenzia (now a blend) & Derelict Vineyard grenache):

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=7212&p=52087
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=8254&p=60483

I've also had a few good bottles of the Tintatra (reserve) in the past too which is why I bought a six-pack of this at auction - the Tintatra grenache is gone, which I figure has landed in this. I'm trying a second bottle which confirms what I thought of the first one - it's not young enough, and not old enough either. At five years of age it's still a very youthful colour and far from falling apart at this stage, but it really seems to be missing something - hopefully that will come with a few more years.

Cheers,
Ian