2017 Willamette Valley Vineyards, Griffin Creek Grenache, Rogue Valley
Divvy-Up
80 Points
Tasting Notes
On the nose, this is a lovely ruit-forward wine with ripe plum, cherry and raspberry. The palate presents a broad spectrum of lush and inviting red and dark fruits accented by sweet baking spices, anise and lilac. The wine is framed by a soft finish with smooth tannins and a round mouthfeel..
Vineyard
For more than two decades we have been working with growers Don and Traute Moore, crafting the highest-quality wines from their Rogue Valley vineyards.
Pioneers of the Oregon wine industry, Don and Traute Moore have been cultivating vines at their Quail Run Vineyards in the Rogue Valley since 1989, growing varietals from all over the world. What they discovered through careful site selection and temperatures similar to France’s Bordeaux or Rhône regions was the ability to grow a “world of wine” in the Rogue Valley as the varietals flourished. Their site is now one of Oregon’s largest and highly regarded vineyards in the industry.
Quail Run Vineyards is LIVE Certified and collaborate closely with universities on multiple experiments to improve grape quality, improve soils and pest management practices.
Comments
Grenache Comes To Oregon
A grape that spread with the influence of the Kingdom of Aragon, from Spain throughout the Mediterranean, Granacha might be the true King of Aragon. Also known as Grenache Noir and Cannonau in Sardinia, where recent DNA evidence suggests that the grape originated, this grape is a versatile player in wine making. Master of blending for the Southern Rhone, Rioja, Navarra and the Ribera del Duero, the diva of Provencal Rosé, and anonymous star of the Chateauneuf-du-Pape and Priorat, Grenache can do it all.
Grenache is an extremely vigorous and productive vine, which is one of the reasons it was Europe’s most widely planted grape through most of the 20th century and the world’s second most widely planted grape at one time. It’s productivity is also it’s achilles heel, making Grenache a popular source for high volume, simple wines and blending.
Grenache is a thin skinned grape, well suited to warm regions, that retains high acidity with medium to low tannin. Its red fruit aromas and flavor profile are prized for blending highlighting cherry, raspberry and sometimes notes of strawberry and red grapefruit. And the grape also brings some spiciness, which is a clue during blind tastings. Tasters will seek out cinnamon notes to identify the varietal.
Grenache is also the basis for some of the world’s most prized wines. In the Chateaunuef-du-Pape, it is the dominant grape for the region with some of the most famous producers using over 90% Grenache in their wines. Grenache is also a primary grape used in the prized wines of the Priorat from Spain. In the USA Grenache is finding a home in warm regions such as Santa Barbara and also in Oregon’s Roque Valley where the latitude is roughly the same as its primary growing regions in Europe.
fawn_16307701380860 Points October 31 edited October 31
I was pleased to discover Griffin Creek’s 2017 Grenache. Elegant, with a burst of berry, a subtle hint of spice, and a velvety, long finish.
I paired the Grenache with Spicy Prosciutto Pesto Pasta and it proved a perfect complement to our meal, holding its own, never getting lost in the complex spices. It maintained its independence and elevated the dish.
Living in Northern California wine country, we tend to lean into this region for wine, but I’m now officially sold on exploring more of Griffin Creek’s Willamette Valley wines.
Love the food pairing - thanks for the PrevView.
One of the things I love about Grenache is how it's playful softness can be both rich and round as well as somewhat elegant - with fruit notes emphasizing its classic candied aromas and flavors interlaced with subtle hints of dried rose petals. It makes me feel like a kid who is thinking about what her life will be like as a grown-up, while at the same time, waxing nostalgic about her childhood.
Growing up on the Central Coast of California, there has always been so much going on in the way of Rhone varietal plantings; I firmly believe these grapes to be our true roots and legacy within the world of wine, even if it is Pinot that helped us to get noticed on the wine map. Oddly, I've never really enjoyed the Pinot from my hometown region - it drinks far too savory in the fruit profile for me.
Continuing on with my cautious exploration of Pinot in California led me further north where the fruit profile got rounder and richer and heavier. And so, it wasn't until I encountered Oregonian Pinot that I found my goldilocks expression of this grape. I'm pretty darn sure it's the red jory soil mixture of weathered basalt rock and silty clay that coerces both the elegance and subtle stealth forth from this grape - a soil mix that is akin to the red clay/basalt rich soil in Sonoma Valley and Moon Mountain District where I live today.
Naturally, as Oregon is saturated with Pinot Noir, I was eager to explore another fruit-driven varietal being grown in this state. So, when this bottle of Grenache came to light, I thought it would be a truly interesting comparison on many levels - between the Pinot grown in Oregon and as well as between the Grenache (and Pinot) grown where I first came to know these grapes, back on the Central Coast.
To note, the bottle I am referring to is the 2017 Grenache from Griffin Creek in the Rogue Valley of Southern Oregon.
Uniquely, the round fruit that I love and which Grenache is classically known for is there on the palate at first sip and first sniff, but it is quickly challenged by the oak that the wine was met with, a factor that is likely contributing to the texture in a positive way, but one that also partially masks the varietal’s bright and luscious fruit flavors, making it challenging to fully discern the grape potentially apart from the oak influence.
Additionally, possibly due to the oaking and how that impacts the fruit in the wine or the soil makeup, this Grenache is also somewhat earthy, borderline vegetative, which is a style of wine that many may truly enjoy but is something that takes away from the varietal as it’s typically known to me.
What’s funny here is that I am definitely not a wine taster who has a philosophy about a wine needing to be varietally correct, because, at the end of the day, what the heck does that mean anyway?
It’s more about the Grenaches I had growing up – where I’m from – that just happen to fit more of the classic varietal characteristics as they were laid out before us from the old world.
Maybe Grenache is one of those grapes that, when challenged in different ways, whether intentionally or unintentionally, simply doesn’t do well in terms of showing its best self.
I have encountered many other expressions of different varietals that I’ve found to be really pleasing to the palate, but perhaps it is simply fruit-forward grapes that have difficulty fully expressing their fruit-forwardness when met with challenging or foreign factors.
Oddly enough, this Grenache actually reminds me of the way the Pinot Noir was and has been cultivated and produced as a grape and a wine in my hometown region, which on some level, makes me appreciative of this wine, if only for memory of that.
I really enjoyed reading your review. Very interesting. Thank you.