Yalumba Tri-Centenary Ancestor Vines Barossa Grenache 2023
- 95
- $76
- Drink by: 2025-2040
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This may not have been the first wine to reveal the glories of Barossa Grenache, if treated with the respect it deserves, but it was certainly one of the early examples and always impresses. This wine spent an extraordinary 333 days on skins as a post-ferment maceration. The fruit comes from just 820 old bush vines which were planted back in 1889. Just 4,839 bottles made. A very pale crimson hue here, but one which is gleaming. The nose is all strawberries, cherries, dried herbs and truffles, with hints of smoked meats. The wine is bright, fresh, exhibiting vibrant acidity, a silky texture with satiny tannins and a lingering finish. This is a juicy style of Grenache, ideal for those who find the big reds of the Barossa a bit much for them (no, I don’t understand that either). A fifteen year proposition, though already delicious.
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.
