Top 10 best Grenaches: Priorat, the Cape and the New World

Álvaro Palacios's La Baixada is the most complete Grenache in this ranking: a single-plot Priorat wine, from 1.3 hectares set apart within the Finca Dofí vineyard. The vines, planted in 1996 on slate, were top-grafted with material from L'Ermita. A blend of 94% Grenache and 6% Carignan, fermented in foudres with the site's own yeasts, aged 20 months, bottled unfined and unfiltered. The nose opens on blackberry, blueberry, violet and white pepper. Offered in 2018, 2019 and 2021 at the same price, €277 a bottle.

Clos Mogador's Espectacle is the great Grenache of Montsant, the appellation that surrounds Priorat. An old vineyard on steep slopes, on clay, limestone and stones, gives this pure Grenache at 15.5% alcohol, aged at length in large wooden vessels. The nose combines candied black fruit, plum, violet and dried rose, with garrigue and liquorice in the background. Compared with La Baixada, it plays sunny generosity rather than the tension of slate. 2022 vintage, to keep ten years and more, €136.40 a bottle.

The Sadie Family's Soldaat is the most refined Grenache in this ranking: a pure Grenache by Eben Sadie, from vines on decomposed granite, at just 13% alcohol. The hand-picked grapes ferment for a month in concrete with daily foot treading, then the wine spends a year in barrel. It tastes both delicate and concentrated, with remarkable length. Where the Catalans bet on power, it bets on tension. 2024 vintage, €77 a bottle, ageing potential of 10 to 15 years.

Torbreck's Hillside Vineyard shows the Barossa Valley in its freshest light: old bush-vine Grenache on the western slopes of the valley, dry-farmed on sand and clay-limestone. Fermented in open vats with native yeasts, then aged in old French oak foudres. The 2021 vintage offers red cherry, raspberry, pomegranate and garrigue, a broad palate with powdery tannins and a saline finish. Sold out for now, it keeps its place for what it says about modern Australian Grenache.

David & Nadia's Grenache is the most ethereal Grenache in the ranking: a blend from five dry-farmed Swartland vineyards, from the Paardeberg to the schist terraces of the Kasteelberg. Picked in twelve passes, fermented with 60% whole bunches, it is aged for a year in neutral 500-litre barrels and concrete tanks. Cherry, wild strawberry, rose and white pepper: a 13% wine to serve slightly chilled, at around 15 °C. 2022 vintage, €38.40 a bottle, in a set of 3.

Savage Wines's Thief in the Night is the Grenache to give to a Pinot Noir lover. It comes from the heights of the Piekenierskloof, from the same plot as Eben Sadie's Soldaat, on dry-farmed decomposed sandstone soils. Spontaneous fermentation with 20% whole bunches, ten months in foudre, light sulphuring. A nose of dried rose, strawberry, pomegranate and thyme precedes a concentrated, crunchy palate. For half the price of the Soldaat, it offers a closely related reading of the same place. 2023 vintage, €38 a bottle, in a set of 3.

Birichino's Besson Grenache is the Grenache with the oldest vines in this ranking: the Besson vineyard, in California, was planted in 1910. Natural fermentation, twelve months in old oak barrels, bottled unfiltered. The nose mixes wild strawberry, cranberry, raspberry, pomegranate and dried thyme, carried by fresh acidity and lovely minerality. It is the opposite of the heavy, oaky Californian cliché: a 13.5% wine, fragrant and precise. 2023 vintage, €49 a bottle.

Bondar's Rayner Vineyard Grenache is the juiciest Grenache in the ranking: a McLaren Vale wine, south of Adelaide, grown on slopes close to Gulf St Vincent and on sandy and clay-limestone soils. Hand-harvested, partly whole-bunch, fermented in open vats, aged on fine lees in neutral barrels. It offers ripe raspberry, crunchy cherry, dried rose and white pepper. Warmer than the Cape wines, it keeps a real coastal freshness. 2022 vintage, €33.60 a bottle, in a set of 6.

El Porvenir's Pequeñas Fermentaciones Garnacha is the highest-grown Grenache in the ranking: vines at 1,750 metres, in Cafayate, in the Calchaquí valleys of Salta. Gravelly and sandy soils, spontaneous fermentation with 25% whole bunches, six months in tank, no oak at all. The result is vibrant: strawberry, crunchy cherry, blood orange, thyme and white pepper, on a supple, juicy palate at 13%. It is the ideal wine to discover the grape's pure fruit. 2024 vintage, €25 a bottle.

Vinos del Viento's Garnacha Old Vines is the best value for money in this ranking: a pure old-vine Grenache from Aragon, the grape's historic home. The high-altitude vines grow on schist, clay and gravel, in a continental climate with cool nights. Hand-harvested, moderate macerations, twelve months of ageing partly in concrete. Ripe strawberry, black cherry, black pepper, thyme and rosemary, fine tannins: a well-built weekday Grenache. 2021 vintage, €18 a bottle, in a set of 6.