Lienert Estate Barossa Valley Grenache 2021

James Lienert is proud to give us the wine word, “florality.” Thanks, James. I can only assume it came to him when tasting his ’21 Grenache. It has “florality” in spades with delicate, pretty florals of violet, juniper and anise. This wine is another Lienert speciality, a Barossa Grenache that eschews the old school confection-laced, generous local style, choosing instead to look to the grape’s attractive aromatics, red fruits as well as a world of spices and a solid core of fruit concentration that brings an almost nervous energy to the glass. Fine, sinewy tannins do the rest. A touch of class here, ageing potential, too. Interestingly, two Grenache clones out of the eight grown on the vineyard were chosen for the job, one that brings out florals, one that contributes a saline character. They do a nice job together.

Jeni Port

Wine critic at Winepilot

Jeni Port is one of Australia’s top wine communicators. Based in Melbourne, Jeni created the first wine column in the (then) Sun News-Pictorial before moving over to The Age and becoming that paper’s longest-serving wine writer. Over the years she has written for most Australian wine magazines and these days calls WinePilot home. She is also a Tasting Panel member on the Halliday Wine Companion. She was named Wine Communicator of the Year and Legend of the Melbourne Food and Wine Festival in 2014 and in 2018 Legend of the Vine. She is a founding board member of Australian Women In Wine and is the co-deputy chair of Australia’s Wine List of the Year Awards and China’s Wine List of the Year Awards.

Wine writer and critic