In my small circle of wine-drinking friends, a common refrain is, “I do not like Grenache.” It’s an odd statement from wine professionals since it makes a reductive declaration contrary to our shared belief in the unique intersection of grape, place, and winemaker. Once you start throwing out some famous Grenache-centric addresses, exceptions are made, and it turns out that it isn’t the grape that is to blame so much for how it is expressed. This can be said of any grape variety. I’ve yet to have a Kerner that didn’t remind me vulgarly or vaguely of the breakfast cereal Fruity Pebbles, yet I hold out hope that one day I’ll find the exception.
Quite simply, there are no bad dogs, just bad owners.
Left to its own devices, Grenache is promiscuous, boozy, and straightforward. In its place of origin, it is a workhorse grape often ameliorated with other varieties to bring complexity to simple wines. At the margins and ragged edges of the State of Grenache are those that impose checks on Grenache through some combination of elevation, exceptionally low-vigor soils, old vines, and colder expositions. Some let Grenache be Garnacha yet somehow find a fulcrum of intensity and vitality. For all its potential and heartbreak, Grenache is the Mediterranean’s Pinot Noir. At a lengthy dinner discussing this oft-maligned variety among many wine professionals despite its popularity with consumers, Eric Solomon quipped, “Grenache delivers what Pinot promises.”
It is a provocative statement that challenges professional prejudice while acknowledging the tastes of many consumers. It also originates from three decades of working with a cadre of Grenache/Garnacha/Granatxa proponents – Daphne Glorian, Dominik Huber & Tatjana Peceric, the Armenier sisters, Fernando Mora, Dani Landi & Fernando Garcia, Ester Nin & Carles Ortiz, Paul Verité-Paumel, Isabelle Sabon, Curro Barreño, Leo & Roc Gramona, Anna Espelt, to name a few off-hand. This isn’t an exhaustive list as much as an illumination of the diverse range of styles that Grenache occupies, ranging from ethereal to hedonistically dense but always possessing a compact core of fruit.
So, yeah, Grenache may slide easily into your DMs. It might seem like an Indie Band starting to fill stadiums, and it might be showing up on your parent’s playlist. You might also laugh off or roll your eyes at us saying, “Grenache Delivers What Pinot Promises,” but we’re just poking some fun at the notion of Grenache’s seeming unpopularity despite its popularity.