Fruit for Yalumba’s Bush Vine Grenache is grown on vines 35 or more years old. Parcels are vinified separately in open-top fermenters with modest stem inclusion. Fermentation kicked off with ambient yeast. Some lots remained longer on skins before pressing off to a mix of older oak barrels and hogsheads, for six months of aging.
The color is limpid raspberry and the fragrance suggests spiced cranberries, rose hips, dried rose petals, and a hint of tarry earth. The palate continues the theme, and texturally it has firm acidity but light tannins. There’s a bit of the garrigue — brushy herbs like sage, thyme, and lavender — I associate with southern Rhône grenache. But mostly it’s a wine centered on its core of lively, spiced red fruits.
2018 Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache Barossa
14.1% abv | $21 (sample); imported by Winebow
