Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache 2015

At Yalumba, we make Grenache that has a perfumed and aromatic bouquet, a silky smooth texture and a savoury finish. Often described as one of Australia's unsung heroes, Grenache is naturally lighter in colour than Shiraz or Cabernet Sauvignon but continually provides us with wonderful, big fruit flavours. Bursting with savoury berry and spice, a slightly higher alcohol level is well-balanced with fruit and oak, resulting in a unique red wine experience quite unlike that found with the more common varieties. Yalumba Bush Vine Grenache - where elegance and harmony are more important than colour and boldness.

To maximise our blending options, all batches of Bushvine Grenache were fermented as separate parcels in our 8 tonne open top stainless steel fermenters, utilising the Yalumba designed cap plunger for cap management. The natural or 'wild' yeasts present on the grape skins were allowed to initiate the sugar fermentation. Cultured winery yeasts were then added to complete this fermentation. This has resulted in a wine of greater complexity and individuality. Yalumba is extremely fortunate to have amongst its growers a resource of very old, gnarly bush vines which produce low yields of concentrated Grenache. A range of terroir can be seen across the different vineyards, from sandy soils to sandy loam to red-brown earth over red clay.

Vintage 2007 followed on from an extremely dry growing season. This drought presented a number of viticultural challenges, with localised spring frosts causing the greatest concern. The already very low bunch numbers and very small berry size were reduced even further due to the severe frosts and this, combined with higher than average temperatures, caused the grapes to ripen nearly a month earlier than usual. The end result has been a wide range of fruit styles and flavours and a challenging year for the grape grower and the winemaker.