quicksearch
Anthony Gismondi on Wine
Yangarra High Sands Grenachetext
96POINTS
18½/20

Yangarra High Sands Grenache 2016

McLaren Vale, South Australia, AustraliaAromatic, creamy, classic, pure red fruit flavours with vibrant, smooth textures that envelope your palate from front to back is the short story. It’s 14.5 percent alcohol, but you feel none of it amid the savoury mix of minerals and fruit. What makes this so attractive is the exquisite use of not noticeable oak, adding texture and mouthfeel with only the lightest of exacting tannins. Grenache doesn’t get a lot of love from wine critics, but this one should change a few minds about the real potential of this grape variety. Brava Mr. Fraser. High Sands is 100 percent estate-grown grenache from Blewitt Springs, McLaren Vale. Its gnarly old bush vines were planted in 1946 at the highest point of Yangarra’s white/grey dunes at 210 metres above sea level. Block 31 is 1.7 hectares of dry-farmed 70-year-old bush vines sitting on the deepest sand with the lowest vigour and yield. The vineyard is certified biodynamic. Famed winemaker Peter Fraser employs a wild yeast ferment for the hand-picked fruit and spends 11 months maturing in older French oak. It’s bottled with no fining and light filtration.Tasted: 22 August 2019Tasted by: Anthony GismondiPrices:
BC$29.00750mlspecialty listing
AB$30.00750mlprivate wine shops
Producer: Yangarra Estate VineyardsDistributors: Summit Fine Wines
Grape: Grenache Noir/GarnachaCSPC: 813278UPC: 784938002625