Why are so many grenache wines now available?

Where has grenache been all my life? All of a sudden, there are lots of bottles in the shops.

A.H., Albert Park, Vic

A: Grenache – one of the world’s most widely planted red grapes – has been with us since the earliest days of our wine industry, but has been mostly used to make fortified port-style wines, cheap bag-in-box wines, rosé and some varietal blends, mainly shiraz and mataro. These were often labelled “burgundy” in the bad old days before we made a deal with the EU to cease using geographical names.

Grenache was also used in the making of cheap sparkling wines: it was known as the “pinot noir of Seppelt Great Western Champagne”. Again, before we promised to no longer use the word Champagne.

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International Grenache Day is on September 16, so it’s the perfect time to buy a bottle in readiness. Grenache is, indeed, riding high today. The grapes from the best grenache vineyards, which are mainly in McLaren Vale and the Barossa Valley, are in big demand. In McLaren Vale, grenache grapes are now more expensive than shiraz.

This is partly because a new generation of winemakers (and some older ones) have decided to make grenache wines differently. They’re harvesting the grapes at optimal ripeness; fermenting them without over-extracting the skins in a pointless effort to boost colour and tannin; refraining from using too much oak; and bottling them earlier to retain their freshness and lovely, raspberry-like primary fruit character. In short, they’re treating grenache more seriously.

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Younger winemakers, such as Rob Mack at Aphelion, Stephen Pannell at S.C. Pannell, Alex Head at Head Wines and Giles Cooke at Thistledown, are spearheading the movement towards beautiful, succulent grenache that drinks well young and doesn’t suffer from massive alcohol, oak or tannin.