Celebrating BC Garnacha (Grenache) on September 15th!

Friday, September 1, 2023

One of my favourite 'Grape celebration' days each year, when the 3rd Friday in September rolls around is International Grenache (Garnacha) Day!! After spending 10 years in Spain, birth country of Garnacha, and working with it in a high altitude, low yielding scenario I fell in love with this grape variety as I began to understand its capacity to maintain a spectacular balance of acidity, fruit intensity, tannin structure and alcohol... with low yields and very little water. In fact, some of the world’s TOP wines are made with Garnacha, or Grenache, as we know it in BC and France... and really, most of the New World.

"Some of the world's TOP wines are made with Garnacha, or Grenache as we know it in BC and France Wendy Valaster - Sommelier ISG

It is one of the varieties that can really reflect the terroir it exists within. It can be a big, dense, complex wine... the style made in Châteauneuf- du-Pape with super long aging capacity (some of the best contain a large % of Grenache), to the high mountains of Spain where the vines are dry farmed in granitic and schist soils with next to no organic content... and of course, here in BC we are growing and producing some excellent examples to celebrate with!! Stag’s Hollow has been producing a single variety Grenache for years now, super small production, super elegant... all raspberries and a sort of salty minerality. And, if you come into the shop and chat with our staff, AND, we have managed to get our hands on some as we do now and again, we can point out a few blended Garnachas created in a Southern Rhone style known for short as - GSM... Grenache, Syrah, Mourvèdre. Mourvèdre is another Spanish born grape variety, known in its birthplace as Monastrell. Road !3 Winery makes a killer blend in their Select Harvest GSM., Bartier Brothers makes a GSM... as does Pentâge Winery, or Into Grady’s RMX!. Terra Vista Winery planted some Garnacha last summer on Naramata Bench, down by the lakeside, so looking forward to seeing what spectacular wine they come up with in a few years once the vines begin producing! Such potential in BC. Hopefully in time we will select the perfect growing area of this amazing grape variety, so we might enjoy more of it! Cheers to Garnacha of September 15th!! Come in and pick up your bottle while you can get your hands on one! Salud!

 By Wendy Vallaster