Grenache: Juicy Barossa Reds, Classic GSM Blends and Provence Rosé

Where Our Grenache Comes From

Barossa Valley and McLaren Vale are the two pillars of this range and between them account for most of the Australian wines here. Both regions kept old Grenache vines through the decades when nobody wanted them, and those vines are now the source of the country's finest examples.

Barossa Grenache is riper and rounder, full of raspberry and plum. McLaren Vale, closer to the sea, gives something more perfumed with a savoury, almost briny finish. Our Barossa red wine collection is where the first group lives.

Adelaide Hills, Langhorne Creek, Clare Valley and Heathcote contribute smaller parcels, generally fresher and lighter in style.

In France, the Rhône Valley is Grenache's most famous home, and Châteauneuf-du-Pape is the grape at its most serious, powerful and long lived. Côtes du Rhône covers the everyday end. Further south, Provence and the Languedoc use it mainly for rosé. Browse the French wine range for all of it.

From Spain we carry Garnacha from Campo de Borja, Montsant, Penedès and the high vineyards of the Sierra de Gredos, alongside the rest of our Spanish wine range. Sardinia grows it too, under the name Cannonau.

Grenache in a Blend

Grenache is a natural blender, and its role is always the same. It brings the fruit, the perfume and the sweetness of texture that firmer grapes lack.

GSM is the Australian shorthand: Grenache with Shiraz and Mourvèdre. Grenache supplies the red fruit and the lift, Shiraz the depth and dark spice, Mourvèdre the tannin and savoury backbone. You will see Mourvèdre labelled Mataro on plenty of Australian bottles, and it means the same grape.

In the southern Rhône the same trio appears with Syrah in place of Shiraz, often joined by Cinsault and Carignan. Châteauneuf-du-Pape permits thirteen varieties, though Grenache almost always leads.

Cinsault also turns up throughout this range on its own account, especially in the Provence rosés, where it softens Grenache and lightens the colour.

Grenache Rosé

Close to a third of this collection is pink, and that is no accident. Grenache is the most planted rosé grape in the world.

Its pale juice, generous red fruit and low tannin make it ideal for a few hours of skin contact and nothing more, which is exactly how Provence makes the style everyone copies. Dry, delicate, barely pink, with strawberry and citrus rather than sweetness.

Australia makes its own version, usually a shade brighter and fruitier. Both sit in our dry rosé range, and the French originals in French rosé. The wider rosé collection covers every style we carry.

How to Serve Grenache

Serve Grenache reds at 14 to 16 degrees, a touch cooler than Shiraz or Cabernet. The perfume is the point, and warmth flattens it while pushing the alcohol forward.

Lighter styles take a genuine chill very well. Rosé wants 8 to 10 degrees straight from the fridge.

Most Grenache drinks beautifully young. Old vine Barossa and McLaren Vale bottles and serious Châteauneuf-du-Pape will hold and improve for ten years or more.

Food Pairing

Grenache is a Mediterranean grape and it eats like one. Lamb with rosemary, roast chicken, tomato based pasta, charcuterie and anything cooked with olives or herbs.

The soft tannin means it copes with spice far better than Cabernet does, so it works with tagine, chorizo and gently spiced dishes. Rosé handles seafood, salads and a hot afternoon.

Grenache Red or Grenache Rosé? Your Questions, Answered

Is Grenache a red wine or a rosé?

Both, from the same grape. Left on its skins for days it makes a red, pressed off after a few hours it makes rosé. The decision happens in the winery, not the vineyard.

Is Grenache the same as Garnacha?

Yes. Garnacha is the Spanish name and Grenache the French one, and Spain is almost certainly where the grape began. Sardinia calls it Cannonau.

Is Grenache light or full bodied?

It sits in the middle and often looks lighter than it tastes. The colour is pale and the tannin soft, but the alcohol runs high and the fruit is generous, so the wine feels fuller than it appears.

What does GSM stand for?

Grenache, Shiraz and Mourvèdre. Grenache usually leads, and the proportions differ with every producer, which is why no two GSMs taste alike.

Is Grenache sweet?

Almost all of it is dry. Ripe raspberry fruit and high alcohol can suggest sweetness, but there is little residual sugar. The exceptions are the few fortified wines in this range, which genuinely are sweet.

Why Buy Grenache at YourWines?

This range covers the grape properly rather than treating it as a curiosity. Old vine Barossa and McLaren Vale sit next to Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Spanish Garnacha and Provence rosé, so you can taste how far one variety stretches.

Every wine is chosen by our team, most of it available by the dozen, and shipping is free Australia wide with a surcharge for WA, TAS and remote areas. Explore the wider red wine range, the full Australian collection, or go straight to Australian reds.