Garnacha vs Cannonou

As both a winemaker and lover of Rhone wines, I find it particularly intriguing. I'd like to make two comments;

1. I concur with Keith and WSOP in that Grenache carries with it a distinct varietal character; the smell of garrigue. Just as the methoxy-pyrazine unique to Sauvignon Blanc creates the 'grbutty' character ('cat pee on a gooseberry bush'), so do certain compounds unique to Grenache create the unique garrigue character of Grenache dominated wines. It does, however, seem to be more pronounced in some Grenache than with others. While this may have somewhat to do with terroir, I suspect it has even more to do with canopy management. Just as New Zealand sauvignon blancs create aggressive, pronounced pyrazine character with their sophisticated canopy management practices, I suspect that some grenache can be made to be more or less garrigue notable. 2. As Ay Tee accurately pointed out, differing vineyard and vinification techniques can create two very different wines from the same, or similar, grapes. terroir, canopy management, harvest decisions, difffering fermentation technique (such as carbonic maceration), different yeast, differing use of oak, etc can all drastically change the way the wine will present to the drinker.

The point of all this - experiencing two radically differing wines from ostensibly close grapes in not at all unusual. Yes UC, even with Italian wines.

We recently acquired some Grenache-Syrah-Mataro (Mourvedre) blend from Australia - the 2003 Barossa Valley 'Juveniles' from Torbreck. According the the infamous critic from Maryland who shall not be named here, the wine is unoaked. Yet, to a palate inexperienced with Rhone wines, the impression can be one of being overoaked - because of the strong garrigue presence. The wine does a remarkable job of bringing together the clbuttic characters of Rhone wines, with the big, intense fruit for which Australian wines are noted.