Author: Luis Zancada

The versatility of the European Garnacha/Grenache is another of the strengths of this quality grape. This is because there are different Garnacha grape varieties. The most surprising thing is the diversity of the wines they can produce and their different characteristics (color, flavor and aroma) that appear depending on these grape varieties, on their place of cultivation (terroir), on the way of vinification and ageing.

Garnacha/Grenache is a great chameleon and comes in different varieties: red, white, and grey (as well as a red and hairy vine, so called this because of its “hairy” leaves). It also comes in many forms: red, rosé and white dry wines, sparkling wines, natural sweet and fortified sweet wines. Consequently, there are different styles of European Grenache from the northeastern regions of Spain and the south of France, where the grape originates.

For example, sparkling Garnacha is making its way into the Spanish appellation of Cava. These regions have continental climates and high-altitude vineyards that preserve acidity and deliver white cherry, floral and herbal flavors. Sparkling Grenache can be dry or sweet, young or long aged, and always very fresh.

The higher altitudes, mineral soils, and maritime influence favor a white wine style of white and grey Garnacha, light-bodied and crisp. The PDO Cariñena and Campo de Borja excel in these wines, as do the Spanish regions of PDO Calatayud, Somontano and Terra Alta, and the French PDOs of Collioure, Côtes du Roussillon, and PGI of Côtes Catalanes and de la Côte Vermeille. In those cases, they are elegant and fine and can have apple, peach, quince, lemon, and saline elements.

Full-bodied whites can also be found in these regions, with the warmer Mediterranean climates of PDO Terra Alta and PDO Collioure, Côtes du Roussillon in Roussillon bringing a little more body to the Grenache (PDO Terra Alta is home to around 30% of the world’s Garnacha Blanc plantings). These round whites can offer flavors of citrus oil, honey, redcurrant and melon, along with a bouquet of floral aromas.

Dry rosé is relevant in the Mediterranean, and Garnacha/Grenache appears throughout northeastern Spain and in the GIs of Roussillon in a variety of styles. The slate vineyards of the PDO Calatayud and its ample sunshine can favor the more robust, mineral and black-fruited versions, while the wine from the PDO Cariñena is more floral and herbaceous. Strawberry, watermelon, rhubarb and rose are the hallmarks of these refreshing and lively European Grenaches. Very versatile for pairing with a strawberry salad or a shrimp cocktail. The rosés wines from Roussillon, southern of France, from AOP Collioure and Côtes du Roussillon, IGP Côte Catalane and de la Côte Vermeille, are also in the same line with a good freshness and juiciness of orange and grapefruit.

Elegant and characterful, the light-bodied red Garnacha could accompany fish, poultry, and vegetarian dishes. With aromas of strawberry, raspberry, cherry and pepper, these wines are found in the north-east of Spain and the south of France in particular, where in the best conditions, cool nights and regular breezes balance ripeness and acidity.

The Campo de Borja and Cariñena appellations offer very good expressions, as do the more prominent communes of the Côtes du Roussillon Villages appellations: Caramany, Latour de France, Lesquerde, Tautavel and les Aspres, offering among others a range of lighter style Grenaches, many made with carbonic maceration and minimal use of the oak containers to preserve fresh fruit flavors.

Full-bodied red Garnacha remains a specialty of this corner of the wine world, as poor soils, dry conditions, old vines with deep roots and low yields concentrate the flavors and tannins of the grapes, resulting in robust, structured wines with deep flavors of blackberry, blackcurrant, allspice and tobacco. In the Roussillon PGIs, winegrowers cultivate grey and black schist vineyards to make the rich Grenache wines of the PDO Collioure and Maury Sec, while the Somontano and Calatayud PDOs in Spain produce bold Garnacha with ripe fruit and a mineral background.

The Roussillon Geographical Indication has long been considered one of Europe’s most prized regions for dessert wines and is home to the fortified Vins Doux Naturels (VDN) of PDO Maury, PDO Banyuls, PDO Banyuls Grand Cru and PDO Rivesaltes. Those appellations give the opportunity to taste the purity of the full family of Grenaches variety, either in very fresh style, for all the colors, or in delicate, rich and complex oxidized styles.

Only a handful of vines survived the terrible phylloxera plague at the end of the 19th century. But that was enough for us to be talking today about this unique variety, the European Garnacha/Grenache, which is increasingly on the rise, and its wines, of incredible finesse, concentration and complexity.

Its proven resistance over time – to pests, drought conditions, poor and dry soils, etc. – has resulted in a great Garnacha/Grenache heritage and wines with a strong sense of place. Known as Garnacha in Spain and Grenache in France, this peculiar and versatile variety -which grows on old vines with deep and stable roots- is nowadays very popular in its place of origin. One of the reasons for its boom is the great work done by the new generation of European winegrowers -based precisely in the north of Spain and the south of France- which make innovative wines with Grenache as the protagonist.

The winegrowers in these areas are reclaiming their heritage and producing wines with great personality because they are more familiar with the growing conditions at an altitude from 0 to over 700  meters, and they take care of every detail of the process, from cultivation to harvesting; they incorporate different fermentation vessels and raise the quality of the barrels / wooden tanks. Moreover, the old vines, once despised for their low yields (each old vine produces no more than one kilo of grapes), are now celebrated for their rich, concentrated expression.

Quality techniques and great evolution

Producing a good single-varietal Garnacha/Grenache wine is no small challenge and requires care and some specific rules to be followed. The winegrowers of these geographical indications manage to produce excellent single-varietal wines with highly developed techniques that result in magnificent wines. These Geographical Indications bring together the five Protected Designations of Origin of northeastern Spain: Calatayud, Campo de Borja, Cariñena, Somontano, Terra Alta, the 14 PDOs of southern France which for their part are made with this single variety or in blend: Banyuls, Banyuls Grand Cru, Collioure, Côtes du Roussillon, Côtes Du Roussillon Villages, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Lesquerde, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Caramany, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel, Côtes du Roussillon Villages les Aspres, Maury Sec & Doux, Rivesaltes, and the 2 Protected Geographical Indications also from the South of France: Côtes Catalanes and de la Côte Vermeille.

These guidelines are as follows:

– Low yields. It is essential to keep yields low to respect the durability of the vine, to improve concentration with little or no irrigation. There is even evidence that Garnacha/Grenache reacts intelligently to a slight degree of water stress.

– Old vines. Reduce yield and increase concentration.

– Poor soils. Garnacha/Grenache can produce excellent wines on a wide variety of soils. There are very good wines made with Garnacha/Grenache on all schists, granite and limestone; the poorest soils giving one of the best results. But whatever the mineral composition, it is essential that the soils are warm and with excellent drainage for the roots to go deep.

– Low / controlled temperature alcoholic fermentation. This is essential to preserve freshness. In several red wines, a cold pre-fermenting maceration is done. Thanks to that, the refining of the maceration takes place during the early stages of the alcoholic fermentation, to add color and tannin, but is stopped before the wines can become too tannic, and all the process is under quite low temperature to keep a maximum of fruits’ pleasure.

For the vinification of white or rosé, especially to retain freshness and minerality, even for Sparklings or Vins Doux Naturels, the control of temperature is compulsory.

Thanks to the evolving of the technology, the wine maker can take advantage of the coolling machines or even doing its work in an air conditionned cellar. This is helpful for a use of barrels.

All of this results in better European Garnacha/Grenache wines that are world-renowned.

There are wine-growing areas within the ‘European Garnacha/Grenache Quality Wines’ program with specific geographical features that make vineyard work more complicated than usual. In addition to the vine cultivation and harvesting work, which is complex in itself, there is the manual work that is very often carried out on a steep slope at high altitude.

This is what is known as “heroic viticulture”, very much focused on certain high-altitude areas. These are vineyards that must meet some of the following requirements to be called “heroic”: a terrain with more than 30% slope, an altitude of more than 500 meters above sea level or vineyards on terraces. Heroic viticulture vineyards are rare, and in Europe only 5% of the vineyard responds to these peculiarities.

Working in these areas is generally risky, given the slope on which the vines are located. Moreover, the work here is done manually, as mechanization is almost impossible due to the unevenness of the terrain.

Within the ‘European Garnacha/Grenache Quality Wines’ program, one of the areas with vineyards that are difficult to access is particularly Collioure / Banyuls (Sur Mer) in the Pyrénées-Orientales in the South of France. In these areas, the cultivation, maintenance and harvesting of grapes are heroic, as they are conditioned by the distribution of the vineyards in terraces. Those are used to overcome the slope of the land, avoiding the erosion… and yet, for instance, each two years, the winegrower needs to bring back the soil from down the slope to the upper terraces…, the mechanization is impossible, because it is too risky for the worker and for the vine.

This French area is in its whole like an amphitheater, dominated by heights that are often difficult to cross, separating it from the neighboring provinces. Geologically, it is a rugged place that underwent drastic changes during the Tertiary and Quaternary periods. After the uplift of the Pyrenees, the southern and northern parts of the Eastern Pyrenees developed very differently.

With 14 AOP: (Banyuls, Banyuls Grand Cru, Collioure, Côtes du Roussillon, Côtes Du Roussillon Villages, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Latour de France, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Lesquerde, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Caramany, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Tautavel, Côtes du Roussillon Villages les Aspres, Maury Sec & Doux,  Rivesaltes and Muscat de Rivesaltes – the unique one which is not made with Grenaches) and 2 IGP (Côtes Catalanes and de la Côte Vermeille), mainly from 25 different grape varieties, the wines of this area in the south of France are very rich and each one expresses its own character.

It also has one of the highest proportions of old vines in the world, on the most varied soils up to 750 meters, with 80% of the vineyard located along rugged mountainous terrain. This situation, its warm, dry climate are well suited to Grenaches (38% of the vineyard). It therefore offers the perfect conditions to produce quality wines.

In the north-east of Spain – DO Calatayud, DO Campo de Borja, DO Cariñena, DO Somontano, and DO Terra Alta – there are some areas of Garnacha vines located at high altitudes – a determining factor in the production of quality wines. These regions have steep slopes and altitudes between 300 and 1,100 meters above sea level. At this altitude, Garnacha vineyards are cultivated with great care and without irrigation, resulting in excellent wines.

Visiting natural parks, villages and environments surrounding Garnacha/Grenache producers, especially those located in northeastern Spain and southern France, is a delight for the senses.

Each of the Protected Designations of Origin (PDO) and Protected Geographical Indications (PGI) belonging to the “European Garnacha /Grenache Quality Wines” program offers a myriad of interesting activities that serve as a stimulus for tourism in these spectacular enclaves, while at the same time becoming a great opportunity to learn about the history of this unique variety. Here are some examples:

Campo de Borja PDO. In this area of Aragon (northeastern Spain), a visit to the 16th century Palace of the Counts of Bureta, an authentic hillside winery with a centuries-old tradition in Aragon, is of great interest. Do’t miss the route through the caves dug by pick and shovel in soft soils where families traditionally made their own wine. This PDO is one of the oldest in Aragon, and its vineyards have been documented since 1203. A compelling reason to visit the vineyards where Garnacha is the main protagonist, with 80% of the total crop. The area also offers a bicycle route of about 152 kilometers of landscapes and vineyards. In addition, you can have a fun ride through these wineries on the hill on a sled with wheels pulled by dogs, called ‘mushing‘.

Cariñena PDO. The Campo de Cariñena Wine Route revolves around wine, of course, but also water, ceramics, Roman remains, Goya’s paintings, charming villages, and lots of nature. In this sense, the producers of this PDO offer outdoor tastings, live jazz, dinners, yoga clases, and artistic painting or watching the Perseids among the vineyards. The Cariñena PDO is the oldest and dates to Roman times. Its fame increased in the late Middle Ages, but its European recognition began in 1865.

Calatayud PDO. A mountain range of vineyards and Mudejar art -the church of Santa María del Tobed, declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2001, stands out- but also a territory with spectacular landscapes, gorges, rivers and ravines, whose most relevant monument is the Monasterio de Piedra, dating to the 12th century. Inside is the Wine Museum of the Protected Designation of Origin Calatayud. The landscape of this area is perfect for hiking and has a wide range of spas with mineral-medicinal waters, golf course and a magnificent heritage legacy where you can visit the wineries of this PDO and taste its excellent wines.

Somontano PDO. Its wines enjoy a great reputation and the landscapes of its vineyards, and the nearby Natural Parks make a visit to Somontano a memorable trip. In this area, 4,000 hectares are cultivated with vines and more than 30 wineries. One of the most interesting destinations in this appellation is Barbastro, a beautiful town with great gastronomic richness and exceptional wines made with Garnacha/Grenache. Also, the Somontano wine bus allows a dream route that goes through crypts, wineries, and localities with guided wine tastings.

The Calatayud, Somontano, Campo de Cariñena and Campo de Borja Wine Routes have joined forces to form the Enoturismo Aragón brand to promote themselves jointly and thus intensify their presence in the market.

Terra Alta. In this beautiful land of Tarragona, you can immerse yourself in unique landscapes that inspired Pablo Picasso and that he captured in his paintings. Away from the big cities is a hidden area full of culture and wine tradition where the traveler can get lost visiting wineries and strolling through the vast fields of vineyards. The wine together with the gastronomy make it an ideal place to travel, enjoy, and get the most enological part out of it.

And in the south of France, the producers of these PDOs and PGIs offer as many tourist activities that are also very attractive:

From Collioure to Port-Vendres, Banyuls-sur-Mer and Cerbère, in the French area of PDO Banyuls, Banyuls Grand Cru, Collioure and PGI Côte Vermeille, the vine culture, planted between the Mediterranean Sea and the Pyrenees, is the dominant economic activity with tourism. This is a beautiful land in south of France with vines bathed by the sun, resistant to the winds blowing from the coast and build from the grec antiquity with terraces on slopes. In addition, there is a great traditional knowledge about wine transmitted from generation to generation that awakens the interest of the traveler and their palate with its ancestral flavors.

The 4 villages of this area offer a lot for tourists…  over a delicate gastronomy based on the sea products and the pathway “Sentier du Littoral” leading you along the Mediterranean seashore through emblematic vineyards made from Grenache, Collioure, known also for the summer castle of the King of Majorque and as the cradle for the Fauvism, offers a pleasant stroll along the charming tiny seaport. The others small seashore villages are also reknown for their pittoresque colored streets, and for the sea reserve and the famous sculptor/peinter Aristide Maillol.

Nestled south of the Corbières mountains, dominated by the castle of Quèribus, the foothills of the Pyrenees and along the river Agly, the PDO Maury, Côtes du Roussillon Villages and Communal, dedicating a huge part of the vineyard to the Grenache, are located northwest of Perpignan (France). You will can discover this unique corridor landscape using “le train rouge” with a departure from Rivesaltes… or doing until some trecking through the hillsides of the PDO Tautavel (European prehistoric center), Caramany (with the Roman Aqueduc at Ansignan), Lesquerde or Latour de France.

For the tourist, it will be impossible to miss the area in the middle of the Pyrénées-Orientales. Visiting roman churchs, the BYRRH institution in Thuir, the Cork Museum in Maureillas… The PDO Côtes du Roussillon, Côtes du Roussillon Villages Les Aspres, Rivesaltes and PGI Côtes Catalanes will show always the proof of the quality of wines made in Roussillon (France) with a based of Grenache.

If something characterizes the wineries that produce European Garnacha/Grenache wines and belong to the “European Garnacha/Grenache Quality Wine” program, it’s the great tradition of their vineyards and their artisan production processes. But also how avant-garde their facilities are as well as their winemaking processes. State-of-the-art technology, which allows, in many cases, to optimize and improve production capacity while ensuring respect for the environment.

Tradition and technology go hand in hand in this enclave with a winemaking tradition that dates to the 12th century.

State-of-the-art facilities

Producers of this European Program “European Garnacha/Grenache Quality Wine” inaugurate facilities with great functionality and state-of-the-art technology.

The commitment of these producers to have sustainable production covers the entire wine aging cycle, from the planting of the vines to bottling. A long and complex process that in recent years has made it possible to reduce polluting emissions thanks to the use of increasingly efficient technology and the increase of renewable resources towards a circular economy. In fact, there is a greater reduction of greenhouse gases and inorganic fertilizers as measures aimed to help the sustainability of the planet.

Artificial intelligence

Producers in this European program “European Garnacha/Grenache Quality wine” rely on artificial intelligence solutions to measure soil, leaf, and vine humidity. In some cases, they install a network of sensors and a data collection station that measures the most important parameters for vine cultivation, air, temperature, atmospheric pressure, wind direction and speed or rainfall.

Automation solutions

There are solutions that allow automating processes and tasks such as irrigation or fertilization. Sometimes they use drones to take photos to collect data more accurately and make plot-specific decisions, which increases vineyard efficiency. However, in all cases, an orderly, sustainable, and rational viticulture will always be maintained, where common sense prevails over quantity and where the plant is allowed to follow its own rhythms.

Photovoltaic panels

This is a self-consumption system that reduces energy consumption in the vineyards. In fact, thanks to the installation of solar panels, we can produce up to 100% of the electricity needed. They are placed 4.5 meters above the ground and cast shade on the vineyard. This generates a microclimate capable of delaying grape ripening and thus slowing down the effects of climate change.