Grenache is the most widely planted grape in Spain (where it is known as Garnacha) and the third most planted red variety in the world. Grenache can produce extremely good wines, especially when the grapes come from old, low-yielding vines.
Grenache makes soft, velvety, high-alcohol wines with sweet flavours of ripe raspberry jam, blackcurrant and even white pepper. A great blending wine; Grenache adds immediate charm and softness to Rioja and gives weight and fruit to Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Côtes-du-Rhône wines.
In the right vineyard, it can produce delicious, heady wines on its own. The finest examples generally come from Châteauneuf-du-Pape and Australia, and are often aged in oak.
