Head Ancestor Vine Grenache 2023
- 95
- $99
- Drink by: 2025-2035
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Alex’s elite version of Grenache, the fruit is from a 167-year-old vineyard near Springton in the Eden Valley, which sits at an altitude of 400 metres above sea level. This places it in the coolest and driest parts of the Valley. Yield was just half a tonne per acre. A portion, just 10%, of whole bunches were included in the ferment, which was with wild yeasts. Maturation was for a year in an old Austrian puncheon. Just 756 bottles made. A vibrant crimson hue, there are spicy notes with aromas of red fruits, strawberries, cherries, a flick of aniseed, bay leaves and cranberries. This is an elegant style of Grenache, with a silky texture, good focus, really impressive length and an intensity which hovers under the radar but is always there. A beautiful Grenache for drinking over the next decade.
Ken was born and bred in Brisbane, Queensland. He had a non-trendy, perfectly happy childhood, in a family convinced alcohol meant instant condemnation to Hades. But a break fishing on the Great Barrier Reef, and some good wine, started a serious obsession that eventually took over. It did not stop Ken being chastised later for drinking Pol champagne, disgusted he’d drink anything made by a Cambodian dictator. Now, Ken mostly writes on wine, champagne and spirits for various newspapers, magazines and books, but is perhaps best known for his work in The Courier Mail. He also has a little sideline writing on cigars, fishing, travel and food. When not writing, fly-fishing for trout in NZ or bonefish on the flats of Cuba, travelling or smoking cigars, he is no doubt following a variety of sporting teams – the occasionally glorious Queensland Reds rugby, the dysfunctional Washington Redskins, the dodgy Arsenal and especially revels in the world restored to its proper axis with the return of the Ashes to their rightful home.
