Heirloom Alcala Grenache 2020
- 95
- $80
- Drink by: 2021-2031
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Old timers must wonder what on earth is going on with Grenache. Once, a workhorse at best, for everything from light rosé to heavy fortifieds (and the odd muffin), mentioning it on a label was near vinous suicide. Today, this grape is seriously hot stuff and deservedly so. One does not have to be a genius to work out why. Just try wines like these.
Whole bunch fermentation here, basket pressing and storage in French oak. The colour is pale red. The nose is a cornucopia of seriously alluring aromas – florals, raspberries, aniseed, spices, tobacco leaf with coffee grinds and almond notes on the finish. A fresh and vibrant style with great length. Bright acidity and abundant tannins, satiny and melting. Gorgeous drinking now but it will sail through a decade in the cellar. If only the old timers had known just how brilliant this grape could be (I suspect they did – blame the marketing departments!).
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.
