OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the recent
"while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the "white
zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend discussion
makes me wonder...

Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?

Remember, be kind, I'm a newbie.

Jeff

You bet it is. There are some fine ones from Spain and the Rhone just to
mention a few.



"JR" > wrote in message
...
> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the recent
> "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the
> "white zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend
> discussion makes me wonder...
>
> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>
> Remember, be kind, I'm a newbie.
>
> Jeff
>

JR wrote:
> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the recent
> "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the "white
> zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend discussion
> makes me wonder...
>
> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?

Yes, it is (arguably) the principal red grape of the Southern Rhone
Valley in France, most notably in the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In
Spain, it's known as "Garnacha" and makes the readily available Sangre
de Toro marketed by Torres. It's also known as "Cannonau" on Sardinia.

Be aware, though, that in France there's also a white sport of Grenache
called Grenache blanc (white Grenache), but I doubt that that's what
you're talking about (and it's a lot less common).

HTH
Mark Lipton

"Mark Lipton" > wrote in message
news:CtX1g.907088$x96.276085@attbi_s72...
> JR wrote:
>> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the
>> recent
>> "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the
>> "white
>> zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend
>> discussion
>> makes me wonder...
>>
>> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>
> Yes, it is (arguably) the principal red grape of the Southern Rhone
> Valley in France, most notably in the wines of Chateauneuf-du-Pape. In
> Spain, it's known as "Garnacha" and makes the readily available Sangre
> de Toro marketed by Torres. It's also known as "Cannonau" on Sardinia.
>
> Be aware, though, that in France there's also a white sport of Grenache

OK, so, thanks to ALL of you for the great info...but, now I have to
comment...before this discussion, I had NEVER seen Grenache on a bottle of
wine before (but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough) and b) if the "white
grenache" I saw in the ads (had to be a California BIG wine producer, after
all, it was on a TV commercial, the red variety of grenache grapes, or the
white varitety.

My guess. The red one, without the skins.

jeff

"JR" > wrote in
:
>
> OK, so, thanks to ALL of you for the great info...but, now I have to
> comment...before this discussion, I had NEVER seen Grenache on a
> bottle of wine before (but maybe I wasn't looking hard enough)

Two red spanish wines from Grenache seem to be widely available in the
United States: Borsao (my favorite is Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha) from D.O.
Campo de Borja and Las Rocas de San Alejandro Viñas Viejas from D.O.
Calatayud. And they are not expensive by today's standards.



and b)
> if the "white grenache" I saw in the ads (had to be a California BIG
> wine producer, after all, it was on a TV commercial, the red variety
> of grenache grapes, or the white varitety.
>
> My guess. The red one, without the skins.

To be precise, the red grapes vinified as white wine (not allowing contact
between the juice and the skins after pressing).

S.

JR wrote:
> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the recent
> "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the "white
> zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend discussion
> makes me wonder...
>
> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?

Yep, it is. I have also seen White Mouvedre, White Cab. etc. All are
low end wines.

When I go wine tasting around California very very few wineries have
White anything available. Seems these products are made mostly by the
big mass producers.

I do recall at the height of the white zin craze, a customer said he heard
about a white riesling---I showed him a nice kabinett with riesling in its
title but he said he only wanted a "white" riesling & didn't believe me when
I said all rieslings were white---I called the store owner over because the
man was in a tirade about my attempts to deceive him. The owner went to the
back & found a bottle of white riesling from Stags Leap which was a gift
from the Winiarki's. The customer glaring at me accepted it. About two
weeks later the customer was back and wanted to shake my hand---seems he
went to a class or tasting on German wine and the leader confirmed that
indeed I had showed him the real thing, he also was told some complimentary
things about me as one of the few people in MD who understood the German
nomenclature............
"miles" > wrote in message
news:F9Y1g.2735$XV5.2065@fed1read10...
> JR wrote:
> > OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the
recent
> > "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the
"white
> > zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend
discussion
> > makes me wonder...
> >
> > Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>
> Yep, it is. I have also seen White Mouvedre, White Cab. etc. All are
> low end wines.
>
> When I go wine tasting around California very very few wineries have
> White anything available. Seems these products are made mostly by the
> big mass producers.

"Joe "Beppe"Rosenberg" > skrev i melding
...
>I do recall at the height of the white zin craze, a customer said he heard
> about a white riesling---I showed him a nice kabinett with riesling in its
> title but he said he only wanted a "white" riesling & didn't believe me
> when
> I said all rieslings were white---I called the store owner over because
> the
> man was in a tirade about my attempts to deceive him. The owner went to
> the
> back & found a bottle of white riesling from Stags Leap which was a gift
> from the Winiarki's. The customer glaring at me accepted it. About two
> weeks later the customer was back and wanted to shake my hand---seems he
> went to a class or tasting on German wine and the leader confirmed that
> indeed I had showed him the real thing, he also was told some
> complimentary
> things about me as one of the few people in MD who understood the German
> nomenclature............
>
Great! :-)

In fact, White Riesling is a name for the 'real' Riesling, like Weisser
Riesling in Austria, and Riesling Bianco in Italy (afaik).
On the other hand there is the 'Black Riesling' (Schwarzer Riesling) and
even 'Red Riesling' (Roter Riesling) - both are dark skinned mutations of
White Riesling (and give white wine).
Adding to the confusion, there is also a Schwarzriesling ('Blackriesling') a
local name (German, mainly in Wuertemberg) for the red Pinot Meunier grape!

:-) Anders

"JR" wrote .......
> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the recent
> "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the
> "white zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend
> discussion makes me wonder...
>
> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>

Jeff, broadly speaking, white wine can me made from "most" red grapes - it
is the prolonged contact with the skin during the fermentation process which
extracts the pigments from the grape skins which impart the colour to red
wine.

Champagne is the opt quoted example - Pinot Noir (red) is one of the
approved varieties used in Champagne.

The grapes are harvested and pressed - with the skins immediately
separated - thus very little or no colour goes into the juice prior to
fermentation.

Thus, white merlot; white cabernet; white grenache etc are possible.

--

st.helier

"st.helier" > wrote in message
...
> "JR" wrote .......
>> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the
>> recent "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible
>> the "white zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache"
>> blend discussion makes me wonder...
>>
>> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>>
>
> Jeff, broadly speaking, white wine can me made from "most" red grapes -
> it is the prolonged contact with the skin during the fermentation process
> which extracts the pigments from the grape skins which impart the colour
> to red wine.

That I knew, but, given the taste of (at least in my opinion) White
Zinfandel, I figured that all of the "white" varieties were a) crappy and b)
created for people who just couldn't take the body and "heaviness" of a red
wine of the same grape.

> Thus, white merlot; white cabernet; white grenache etc are possible.

Possible...OK...is there a "white cabernet" though?

"JR" > wrote in
:

> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the
> recent "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how
> horrible the "white zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent
> "shiraz-grenache" blend discussion makes me wonder...
>
> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>
> Remember, be kind, I'm a newbie.
>
> Jeff
>
>

Grenache is the mostly planted vine planted in Spain (in a close match with
a white grape called Airén) and, if memory serves, also in the world (but I
am not sure, (bare with my ignorance). It is typical of different parts of
Spain, including Rioja Baja where it goes into the blend with Tempranillo,
Mazuelo (Carignan) and Graciano. It is the main grape of the great wines
of Calatayud, Campo de Borja and so important in Cariñena.

It goes into the great Priorats (usually mixed with cariñena-carignan).

And there is a variety of Grenache which is white and not red. It is used
in Priorat, Montsant and other surroundings to make oaked white wines. I
think it goes into white rhones mixed with marsanne and roussane too, but I
am not sure about that.

Best,

S.

JR,
some of the Big Cali producers, misuse the terminology, a classic is
Califorinia "Beaujolais", everyone here knows that Beaujolais is from France
and made from the Gamay grape. Or Claifornia Burgundy, Burgundy is a region
in Franch and the red is primarily Pinot Noir. Sometimes the Paul Mason's
and a few others create bulk wine and label it with semi-legitimate names.
My 2 cents.... ;-)

"JR" > wrote in message
...
> OK...I recall, a few years ago, a "white grenache" in ads...So, the recent
> "while merlot" posts, along with my recollection of how horrible the
> "white zinfandel" tastes to me, and the recent "shiraz-grenache" blend
> discussion makes me wonder...
>
> Is Grenache usually a grape used for red wine?
>
> Remember, be kind, I'm a newbie.
>
> Jeff
>