Grenache Noir: More Than Just a Blending Component?
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Grenache Noir: More than just a blending component? Dewaldt Heyns May 2017 Introduc?on • Second most planted variety aer Airen • S?ll liDle known in spite oF its volume • Tradi?onally seen as blending component • Some oF the most expensive single varietal wines • Versale and flexible • Reflects its terroir • Can handle heat or sunshine, wind and drought • Thrives on a variety oF soils • High vigour, high yield poten?al • Impressive plan?ng oF old vines around the world Mutaons and Crosses • Grenache Noir • Grenache Blanc – France’s Fourth most widely planted white variety • Grenache Gris – Southern France and Sardinia – pale rosé and lightly ?nted white wines • “Hairy Grenache" (Garnacha Peluda in Spain) – vine leaf has a downy underside. Mutaon or closely related? • Garnacha Tintorera (Alicante Bouschet) – Grenache Noir x Pe?te Bouschet • Marselan (planted in Languedoc) – Grenache x Cabernet Sauvignon • Caladoc Noir – Grenache Noir x Côt Noir • Chenanson Noir and Ganson – Grenache Noir x Jurançon Noir • Gramon Noir and Monerac Noir – Grenache Noir x Aramon Noir • Portan Noir – Grenache Noir x Portugais Bleu Noir Synonyms • Abundante, Aleante, Aleantedi Rivalto, Aleante Poggiarelli, Alicant Blau, Alicante, Alicante Grenache, Aragones, Bois Jaune, Cannonaddu, Cannonadu Nieddu, Cannonau, Cannonau Selvaggio, Canonazo, Carignane rosso, Elegante, Francese, Gamay del Trasimeno, Garnaccho negro, Garnacha Comun, Garnacha negra, Garnacha Roja, Garnacha ?nta, Garnatxa negra, Garnatxa Pais, Gironet, Granaccia, Granaxa, Grenache noir, Grenache rouge, Kek Grenache, Lladoner, Mencida, Navaro, Navarra, Navarre de la Dordogne, Navarro, Negru Calvese, Ranconnat, Red Grenache, Redondal, Retagliadu Nieddu, Rivesaltes, Roussillon Tinto, Roussillon, Rouvaillard, Sans Pareil, Santa Maria de Alcantara, Tenllo, Tintella, Tin?lla, Tinto Menudo, Tinto Navalcarnero, Tocai rosso, Toledana, Uva di Spagna History oF Grenache • North East region oF Aragon, Spain 1200-1300 • Spread within Kingdom oF Aragon to Sardinia, Sicily, Naples, Roussillon, Corsica • Men?oned by Eustache Deschamps in France around 1400 • 17th-18th century Burgundian wine merchants used it to beeF up their wines – more popular in the ChâteauneuF-du-Pape, Gigondas and Vacqueyras regions. • Post-phylloxera plan?ng Favoured Grenache in 19th century. Can be Found all over the Mediterranean. • Sardinia – 3200-year-old seeds have been Found • Australia – James Busby 1832 (Perpignan), 1844 Christopher Rawson PenFold (South oF France), un?l 1960 one oF the most widely planted reds • CaliFornia – Charles LeFranc 1857, soon second most planted variety aer Carignan Grenache Today • USA (2000, 4519 ha to 2666 ha) and Australia (1979, 42 000 ha to 11 000 ha in 2010) replaced by Cabernet Sauvignon, Shiraz, Merlot etc. • Spain, Navarra 23336 ha in 1976 – 2632 ha 2012, Rioja replaced by Tempranillo • EU vine pulling schemes 1988 and 2010. • France no 1 producer, only cul?var showing growth (24 800 ha in 1958 to 94 000 ha in 2010) • As oF 2010, plan?ngs oF Grenache worldwide are roughly 200 000 ha: – 184 735 ha Grenache Noir – 7 370 ha Grenache Blanc – 1 232 ha Hairy Grenache – 2 429 ha Grenache Rosé France • Vaucluse, Gard, Herault, Drome, Aude, Var and Pyrenees Orientales • Second most planted grape variety aer Merlot – 94 000 ha • 60-90% oF the wine in ChateauneuF-du-Pape, Vacqueyras and Gigondas • Rasteau AOC (changed in 2009), Lirac AOC and Tavel AOC (rosé only) • Co?eres de Nimes, Cotes du Ventoux and Provence – Grenache is not as dominant (Syrah) • Languedoc-Roussillon – 38 000 ha oF 283 000 ha Spain • 70 000+ ha oF Grenache vines • Can be Found in almost every Denominación de Origen (DO) in Spain, e.g. Calatayud, Campo de Borja, Cariñena and Somontano in Aragon, Priorat, Montsant and Terra Alta in Cataluña, Almansa and La Mancha in Cas?lla La Mancha, Vinos de Madrid, Navarra and Rioja. • Mostly the northern and north-eastern parts Italy • Known as Cannonau in Sardinia (Cannonadu or Canonau) • One oF the principal grapes oF the island, producing deeply coloured, full-bodied red wines • Alcohol levels around 15% • Close to 7 500 ha • 70% concentrated in the central area oF the island in the Nuoro province • Outside oF Sardinia – Sicily, Umbria (in Trasimeno Lake area) and Calabria Australia • FiBh most planted red grape variety in Australia – 1800 ha • Once dominated • Suffered From government uproo?ng schemes in 80s and move From sweet For?fieds to classical varie?es since 60s • Shiraz (42 000 ha), Cabernet Sauvignon (25 000 ha), Merlot (9 200 ha) and Pinot Noir (5 000 ha). • Most Grenache is planted in Southern Australia’s Barossa (518 ha) and McLaren Vale (354 ha). • Barossa 20%, McLaren Vale 19%, Riverland 15%, Langhorne Creek 11%, Swan Hill 10% – top 5 areas. • Both regions have a treasure oF old vines, some oF them more than 125 years old, planted on their own rootstocks on sandy soils unaffected by phylloxera. • Popular in GSM blends. • Resurgence in single varietal boDlings – old vines United States • 3 885 ha oF Grenache planted in CaliFornia and some in Washington. • Despite decades’ long decline, since 1995, 404 ha oF Grenache has been planted in high- quality CaliFornian coastal locaons. • Rhone Rangers and rise in GSM blends renewed interest. Grenache in the Vineyard • Dr Linda Bisson, UC Davis: “Grenache is not difficult to ripen … it may be one oF the most difficult grapes to work with, perhaps more difficult than Pinot Noir”. • Grenache shows its terroir in the glass • Sensi?ve to vineyard locaon, soil and vintage variaons, thus site selec?on is Fundamental • Top internaonal sites – deep, well drained soils, inducing moderate vigour with moderate to low water availability • Dry-Farming or minimal irrigaon is advised. • Does well in windy areas due to strong upright growth oF canes. • Controlling the vine’s vigour is essen?al. • Suffers From “dead arm” or Eutypa dieback • Moderate suscep?bility to Phomopsis • Sensi?ve to downy mildew, especially in cool, wet growing condi?ons • Finding suitable excellent clones is a challenge • French clone GN 70 is very produc?ve, most widely planted in France and SA. • 1064, 513 and 516 From Vi?tec is beDer • Internaonal clones with poten?al: US (Clone 2D), France (ENTAV-INRA 136 and 435), Spain (clones From Navarra – EVENA 11, EVENA 13, EVENA 14 and EVENA 15, VN- QUALITAS, clones From Cas?lla y Leon – CL 55, clones From Aragon – ARA 2 and ARA 24, clones From Rioja – RJ 21). • Select a drought resistant rootstock that induce moderate vigour – R110 • Plant Grenache as bush vines head pruned • Buds Fairly early • Requires plenty oF sunshine and can tolerate sustained summer temperatures oF 40 °C • Need a long growing cycles to achieve phenolic ripeness • Nitrogen Fer?lisaon should be limited – shows its best at low yields • Indicator cul?var For magnesium deficiency • Pruning should be severe to control the number oF buds and spurs • Trimming the ?ps oF developing shoots near the end oF the flowering period to lessen incidence oF couloure (afspeen) • Suckering/shoot thinning in spring and early summer to control the number oF shoots per vine • Green harvest/bunch removal aer veraison is essen?al – big bunches, with big shoulders. • Grenache clusters are compact and can be subject to bunch rot at harvest, thus basal leaves may be removed Following Fruit set • Use oF permanent cover crops to devigorate the vines can be considered. • To produce premium wines, yields oF 35 hl/ha or less are recommended, colour and extrac?on suffers with high yields Clones • Charles Visser – three clones oF Grenache Noir available – French clones ENTAV-INRA 70, 513, 516 and 1064. • Vi?tec imported From Australia in 2005 – GN – 179, 33, SAVI6 • Clone 70 most planted – average to high produc?on clone, berry/ spicy aromas, can some?mes lack structure and colour • Clone 513 – average to lower Fer?lity, average to lower vigour clone, good quality, higher polyphenols and medium compact bunches • Clone 516 – average produc?on, wine typical oF cul?var • Clone 1064 – lower produc?on, small to medium bunches, high wine quality, wine with good tannin structure. • We have limited clones capable oF producing high quality wines available. When to harvest? Figure 7 – Evolu;on of Grenache during ripening (year 1999, Rhône) • Compared with other grape varie?es, Grenache contains a low amount oF anthocyanins, composed mostly oF 3-glucoside malvidine (75% oF all anthocyanins), a component that oxidises easily under the influence oF temperature and light. • Grenache berries are characterised by a hard, tannic and herbaceous skin that aains its colour late during ripening, taking some ?me un?l berry colouraon is complete. • Throughout maturity Grenache develops intense Fruity aromas with an evolu?on towards the jammy/confiture flavour spectrum iF leB too late. • Seeds retain green characters throughout ripening and only reach maturity late. • When Grenache is harvested too early, the poten?al alcohol deficit is normally Followed by colour deficit and green tannins. • Sugar ripeness and phenolic ripeness are normally not aligned. • Grapes are normally harvested riper For longer ageing wines where colour and structure are important; wines develop spicy aromas, along with ripe Fruit and poten?ally cooked and jammy Fruit notes when pushing ripeness limits. • Wines des?ned For early consump?on, tannin and colour extrac?on are less important and the goal normally is to harvest to Favour red Fruit and berry character. • Different schools oF thought: Montse Nadal, proFessor oF Oenology at Tarragona University, comments that achieving phenolic ripeness is less cri?cal compared to other grape varie?es because oF Grenache’s lower phenolic content – thus aim For lower alcohol, higher acids and less overripe flavours. Zelma Long is oF the opinion that in Grenache the silkiness oF texture and the soBness oF the wine comes in part From ripe tannins. • Regarding the alcohol debate, one should keep in mind the opinion oF the market, sommeliers and other opinion Formers.