Winemaker Notes
The palate feels perfectly ripe and firm. Red satin textured fruit, succulent with bright acidity, a ferrous minerality and cherry juiciness saturating the stony notes that provide the wines firm base.
Professional Ratings
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James Suckling
There’s a very direct feel to this grenache, from a parcel planted in the 1880’s. The fresh, red-floral perfume and the raspberry and redcurrant aromas are so beautifully fresh. The palate has directness, intensity, focus and elegance with a very vibrant, gently tart red-fruit core. Holds long, pure and fresh
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Wine Enthusiast
Although Yalumba boasts several far pricier wines than Tri-Centenary, this flagship for modern South Aussie Grenache is one of its finest, and it rewards those not keen on lengthy cellaring time. In the glass it appears translucent, a pale ruby hue. Despite some bottle age, it’s still fresh. Breathe in aromas of freshly picked strawberries— stems and all—cranberry, orange zest, warm earth and wild mushrooms. True to the variety, there’s oodles of fruit here, which cascades onto the palate. It never feels confected, however. Bright acidity and fine, filigree tannins add texture and complexity to this joy-inducing wine. Drink now–2025.
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Decanter
From 820 bush vines, planted in 1889 on deep, sandy loam over red-brown clay, now owned by Yalumba. Open-fermented, with 41-days of post-fermentation maceration and aged in older French oak hogsheads, this garnet Grenache is riven with sandalwood and anise spice, tertiary leather and farmyard nuances. Silky red cherry and berry fruit, with a touch of high-toned glycerol, build in intensity, along with a dried rose and violet lift. Chock-full of character.
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Robert Parker's Wine Advocate
The 2015 The Tri-Centenary Grenache spent 41 days on the skins, and with this vintage, the time at this part of the journey begins to extend. The wine is still matured in old French oak hogsheads at this time. Here, curiously, the wine shows some development, and a sweet edge to the fruit begins to creep in. It has vanilla bean, or aged leather, or something of its ilk. The wine is savory and the tannins both profuse and dry, but there are no hard edges—this is soft and pliable. At 10 years from harvest, the wine has softened and is fine. The berries were small this year due to conditions during spring, and this is in line with the general attitude of the red wines in the Barossa: they were firm and the wines excellent.
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Wilfred Wong of Wine.com
COMMENTARY: The 2015 Yalumba Tri-Centenary Grenache offers a lesson of exhibiting beautiful fruit, sustaining it throughout the palate experience, and lasting in the finish. TASTING NOTES: This wine is bright, jazzy, and pure. Its bright red fruit aromas and flavors stay the course to the finish. Pair it with a game hen in a red berry-wine reduction sauce. (Tasted: September 24, 2019, San Francisco, CA)
Grenache thrives in any warm, Mediterranean climate where ample sunlight allows its clusters to achieve full phenolic ripeness. While Grenache's birthplace is Spain (there called Garnacha), today it is more recognized as the key player in the red blends of the Southern Rhône, namely Châteauneuf-du-Pape, Côtes du Rhône and its villages. Somm Secret—The Italian island of Sardinia produces bold, rustic, single varietal Grenache (there called Cannonau). California, Washington and Australia have achieved found success with Grenache, both flying solo and in blends.
Historically and presently the most important wine-producing region of Australia, the Barossa Valley is set in the Barossa zone of South Australia, where more than half of the country’s wine is made. Because the climate is very hot and dry, vineyard managers work diligently to ensure grapes reach the perfect levels of phenolic ripeness.
The intense heat is ideal for plush, bold reds, particularly Shiraz on its own or Rhône Blends. Often Shiraz and Cabernet partner up for plump and powerful reds.
While much less prevalent, light-skinned varieties such as Riesling, Viognier or Semillon produce vibrant Barossa Valley whites.
Most of Australia’s largest wine producers are based here and Shiraz plantings date back as far as the 1850s or before. Many of them are dry farmed and bush trained, still offering less than one ton per acre of inky, intense, purple juice.