Purple Palate

Grenache vines produce sweet, linear fruit in their youth and dryer, complex fruit in advanced age. This Rose, created from Grenache vines planted in the 1850s, is one of the best I have tried in Barossa due to the drying tannin and excellent acid which alleviates the sweetness of Barossa fruit. White Paper bark underlies a bouquet of cassis and notes of raspberry cordial. The palate is cassis and raspberry laced with white pepper. The wine is of excellent length with a full body with a lasting astringency. It is often thought that Grenache softens a wine in a blend; a common misconception if you look at Chateauneuf du Pape wines and the old powerful Grenache of the Barossa. -MC