Christine’s Vineyard
Grenache

Bright, red fruited with raspberry & cherry aromas, some red liquorice/spice here too! The palate falls right into the medium bodied territory, red fruits and spice with a noticeable chinotto character. Lovely finish with tight firm tannins balanced by acidity. Beautiful, a standout vintage!

Aromas of raspberry, cherry compote, hints of violets and dried herb. The palate shows elegance and poise with red fruits, five spice and a slight tartness rounding out the finish. Fine, grainy tannins compliment the fruit.

The nose is brimming with red fruits, hints of liquorice and rose petal. The palate gentle, medium in weight with raspberry, vanilla essence, anise & great acid. An excellent expression of Vine Vale Grenache.

Complex nose of red fruits, rose petal, cherry and spice. The palate has more concentration than previous years due to the strength of the vintage, red fruits, five spice, with a firm grip and good length.

Sour cherry, spice, floral tones, with a slight sweetness on the nose. The palate is delicate as Grenache should be with white pepper, cherry and red fruits. Light on its feet, but beautifully poised with great purity.

Sour cherry, spice with floral tones, and a slight nutty character. The palate is delicate as Grenache should be, with hints of cherry, spice and gentle tannin. Light on its feet, but beautifully poised. A great wine, one of my proudest achievements from these gnarly old vines.

Mum’s block of Grenache carried a low crop in 2015 which was a real blessing come the end of April when the beautiful weather we had all vintage took a turn for the worst early and forced my hand into getting the grapes into the vintage shed. It proved to be a good move, because winter started early and stuck around. It’s turned out to be a classic Grenache: all red currants, cloves, cinnamon and five spice with similar density and composition to the 2014. It offers up cedar, wild cherry, kirsch liquor and lifted spices which dominate the palate. I would have liked to see this hang for another week or two, but it’s produced a terrific little Grenache that’s light on its feet and long in its finish.

Christine’s Vineyard is the yard stick for Vine Vale Grenache. It’s the first single vineyard Vine Vale Grenache, and it’s still flying the flag for Grenache grown on this deep sand from old, old vines 18 years on. Half the average crop in 2014 has resulted in a little rockstar of a wine. The nose is jam packed with spice- think cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon and five spice. It flows smooth and silky across the palate with an awesome fruit-acid balance and a polished, textural, long finish. Plant this flag on any dinner table and I reckon you’ve won the argument.

100% Grenache from my Mum’s beautiful old bush vines, in the best vintage I’ve ever seen for this block since the first vintage in 1997. The nose is packed with cedar, wild cherries, kirsch liqueur, nutmeg, cloves, orange zest and cinnamon cake. Beautifully spicy on the palate, impeccably balanced, with awesome weight and a tenacious finish with just enough grip and acidity to ensure the 2012 is a very sound prospect for the cellar and will stand proudly amongst its peers- the greatest wines from the Southern Rhone.

2010 was that crazy low yielding year for Grenache Barossa wide. It was so low for us that that the Grenache that usually gets used for the Driftsand has made the grade for the Christine’s for the first time. This means that there will be no 2010 Driftsand but the 2009 is still available and has turned into a bit of a sleeping giant. It looked funky early on but has become incredibly concentrated since its release earlier in May this year. Even using the two Grenache vineyards on Mum and Dad’s property this year, we have still ended up with only 150 cases of the 2010 vintage. I think it’s awesome. It’s one worth having in the cellar just to be the proud owner of a very rare offering. 100% Grenache from a year that was about 80% down on average yield.