Grenache

Grenache is one of the most widely planted red wine grapes in the world, a late-ripening, heat-loving Mediterranean variety known in Spain as Garnacha and in Sardinia as Cannonau. It gives generous, soft, high-alcohol reds bursting with red fruit — raspberry, strawberry and red cherry — over warm spice and white pepper, with low acidity, gentle tannins and a pale, translucent colour. It is the warm, fleshy backbone of Southern Rhone blends like Chateauneuf-du-Pape and the powerhouse of Catalonia's Priorat, and turns its hand equally to crisp dry rose and to sweet fortified wine.