A Day in the Life – Great Garnacha!
by John Dunham
I read the news today, oh boy
About a lucky man who made the grade
And though the news was rather sad
Well, I just had to laugh
I saw the photograph
He blew his mind out in a car;
He didn’t notice that the lights had changed
A crowd of people stood and stared
They’d seen his face before
Nobody was really sure if he was from the House of Lords
I saw a film today, oh boy;
The English army had just won the war
A crowd of people turned away
But I just had to look
Having read the book
I’d love to turn you on…
We want to turn you on…to Garnacha Wine!
The lyric: “’I’ d love to turn you on” in the song from the Sergeant Pepper’s album by the Beatles was was quite controversial in 1967 as is was supposedly a veiled drug reference. Just like the lyric in the 1967 song recorded by the Beatles , as wine columnist for advicesisters.com I’d love to turn you on as well…to Garnacha.
September 16, 2016 was Garnacha Day, and was celebrated through a number of events here in New York City. We don’t want ot get too heavily into drug references, but after attending two fabulous tasting in NYC on that day, we’ve become addicted to Garnacha wines. We think you’ll be as well, once you try them.
An Extremely Important Grape:
Garnacha is an extremely important grape and one of the most commonly planted wine grapes in the world. It’s found everywhere from the South of France to Spain to California.
Depending on where it is grown it can be called Grenache, Garnacha, Roussillon, Cannonau, Alicante, or a number of different names. It comes in a wide variety of colors as well from white to gray to red, but in general Garnacha wines are made with the red and white varietals.
The grape grows best in hot dry climates and produces wines that tend to be both soft and fruity.
Wines made with Garnacha tend to be fruit-forward, with a palate featuring red fruits, particularly strawberry, and some light spicy notes.
The Wine in Spain Stays Mainly….
Historically, Garnacha wines were used for blending simply because they tend to lack acid and tannin, however, in certain areas, particularly in southern Spain and France Garnacha (or Grenache) are the dominant varietal.
In Spain, these wines are produced in the provinces of Aragon and Catalonia, with 5 specific areas designated as Denominación de Origen (DO). These are Calatayud, Carinena, Terra Alta, Campo de Borja and Somontano all of which are located south and west of Barcelona. It is the third most widely planted grape in all of Spain with much of this coming from older vines.
Garnacha Day Master Class Wine Tasting at TORO NYC:
Garnacha tasting
For Garnacha Day in New York, we were fortunate to attend a master class, hosted by Wines of Garnacha as well as a Snooth.com virtual wine tasting. Both of these events featured Christie Canterbury, a Master of Wine, of which there are only about 350 worldwide.
At the master class, which was held at Toro, a lovely Spanish restaurant located in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, Ms. Canterbury presented the history of Garnacha, and discussed the various DO areas of Spain. We then went on to taste a range of fairly higher end examples of the varietal.
The first was a White Garnacha from the Terra Alta Region. LaFou Els Amelers (2015: $40) comes from a newer winery in this higher more mountainous region of Spain. It was a pale yellow color. The nose featured a lot of citrus up front and some tropical notes as well. On the palate, the wine actually had pretty good acidity, with a lot of citrus and some pineapple notes up front. The wine finished with a bit of a peppery bang. This is a very nice seafood wine that I would like to pair with fish, shellfish, and lighter poultry dishes.
On the red side we tasted Coto De Hayas Garnacha Centenaria (2014: $13) from Campo de Borja. This wine, which was also featured at the Snooth virtual tasting later that evening, comes from older vines with tiny yields.
The wine was dark red in color with purple hues. On the nose it was very perfumed and floral with a hint of cherry. The wine was very fruit forward with little structure. Sweet cherry and red fruit notes gave way to a bit of spice on the finish.
Interestingly this wine would taste differently at the virtual tasting as we used a rounded glass. In this case, the spice was more forward, suggesting the importance of using the proper glassware with wines. In either case, this is a great drinking wine, good for bar-b-que, hamburgers and other lighter fare.
Garnacha Vinas, Centenarias (2012: $26) from Carinena. This wine was called the queen of Garnacha by Ms. Canterbury and spends a full month on the skins. The wine comes in a burgundy bottle and in many ways acts like one.
Red in color, the wine was super infused with florals, tearose and some licorice. It was very fruit forward up front, with a lot of cherry, and some of the licorice notes on the finish, Light in tannins and long on finish, this is a friendly wine and would pair broadly across a range of different food types.
The Centenarias, along with the final wine, Pirineos Garnacha (2013: $30) really showed how this grape can take on a range of different characteristics in the vinification process. This wine was garnet in color with light purple notes.
On the nose….bacon. Bacon and dill, no fruit at all. These bacon notes came through on the palate. The ubiquitous cherry was there but bacon dominated the lightly structured wine. For pairing, one could suggest bacon, or pretty much anything because bacon pairs with pretty much everything.
Other wines featured at the master class were:
Perlat Garnatxa (2014: $15) DO Monsant. The wine was a garnet red color, with a nose featuring cherry, some plum and Indian spices. On the palate, the wine had light tannins. Cherry and red fruit notes dominated this light bodied wine that should be drunk early and is more of a picnic wine than a real dinner companion.
Las Rocas Garnacha (2014: $14) from DO Calatayud. Dark red in color with purple hues, the wine had clean laundry notes up from with some ashy notes on the finish. The palate featured the expected maraschino cherry notes and other red fruits, but there were some smoky notes. There was also an almost rum like character to the finish. This was a heavier wine and the smoke notes lent it more toward heavier foods like stews or lamb.
After the master class, there was a walk around tasting in Toro’s modern private dining room, but we skipped this knowing that there would be a Snooth.com virtual tasting that night. As our readers know, we are huge fans of Snooth.com and of its virtual tasting series. These tastings allow reviewers, wine professionals and interested oenophiles from around the world to participate in a wine tasting featuring really knowledgeable experts. In this case – Christ Canterbury. Since this tasting happened on a Friday evening, it was difficult for us to get a gathering together, so we did our best to sample our way through without drinking too much ourselves.
Garnacha Virtual Tasting With Snooth.Com:
these are the wines we tasted “in person” with our “virtual” friends on snooth.com
If you read our advicesisters.com columns regularly you know we’re big fans of Snooth.com and of its virtual tasting series. These tastings allow reviewers, wine professionals and interested oenophiles from around the world to participate in a wine tasting featuring really knowledgeable experts. In this case – Christ Canterbury. Since this tasting happened on a Friday evening, it was difficult for us to get a gathering together, so we did our best to sample our way through without drinking too much ourselves.
As our readers know, we are huge fans of Snooth.com and of its virtual tasting series. These tastings allow reviewers, wine professionals and interested oenophiles from around the world to participate in a wine tasting featuring really knowledgeable experts. In this case – Christ Canterbury. Since this tasting happened on a Friday evening, it was difficult for us to get a gathering together, so we did our best to sample our way through without drinking too much ourselves.
Five Affordable Garnachas:
The tasting featured five Garnacha wines, all of them very good value offerings at under $15 per bottle. beginning with two whites. (Clos Dalian Garnatxa Blanca 2015: $10) was the first wine we tasted.
White Garnachas:
From the Terra Alta region, the wine was a pale straw yellow color, with a nose strong on citrus with a hint of peach. The palate was fresh with good acidity with a lot of citrus notes. Like the slightly more complex LaFou Els Amelers from the master class, this is a great seafood wine, and for $10 a bottle an excellent bargain.
Red Garnachas:
On the red side, Castillo de Monseran Garnacha from Carinena (2014: $10). This was the wine of the evening. A deep ruby red color, the nose was complex with backberry, cherry, pepper and floral notes.
The wine has some decent structure and would age fairly well for a Garnacha. On the palate this wine was quite fruit forward, with good acidity. There were cherry notes along with blackberries and pepper notes on the finish.
This is a well built wine and very hard to beat at the modest price point. It will be something that we add to our cellar and we will likely even try to hold a bottle for a few years.Another red that we tried that night was Evodia Garnacha (2015: $11). This wine is from the Campo de Borja region and is an old vine wine meaning that the plants are at least 40 years old. Wow is Garnacha fun. This wine had a Malbec feel to it, particularly on the nose which had the clean laundry notes that I often get from that varietal, along with a lot of blueberry. Dark garnet with purple hues in the color, the wine was also more Malbec like with a bit more structure than many of the other wines that we tasted that day, and more plum and blackfruit notes. This is a good pairing wine, and can work with stronger foods, like steak, or pork shoulder.
Another red that we tried that night was Evodia Garnacha (2015: $11). This wine is from the Campo de Borja region and is an old vine wine meaning that the plants are at least 40 years old. Wow is Garnacha fun. This wine had a Malbec feel to it, particularly on the nose which had the clean laundry notes that I often get from that varietal, along with a lot of blueberry. Dark garnet with purple hues in the color, the wine was also more Malbec like with a bit more structure than many of the other wines that we tasted that day, and more plum and blackfruit notes. This is a good pairing wine, and can work with stronger foods, like steak, or pork shoulder.
Other wines we sampled at the virtual tasting were:
La Miranda de Secastilla Blanca (2013: $15). Light yellow in color this wine was bright on the nose with a lot of fruit including apples and peach. On the palate, the wine has a crispness and good acidity, featuring citrus and apple notes. This is a wine that would be good with poultry or pork and at $15 a bottle is an excellent choice for a fall party by the fire pit.
We mentioned the Garnacha Centenaria (2014: $13) as part of the masterclass. As we said before, the glassware made a big difference in this wine. Maybe this is because Garnacha is so light in body, but depending on the glass, the spice notes were either dominant or repressed. Using a round glass, the wine featured more of the spicy peppery notes, while with a taller, straighter traditional wine glass, the fruit came forward.
