Mitchell Growers Grenache 2000
Product Details
Your Rating
Somm Note
Winemaker Notes
Mitchell's two original vineyards within the Clare District are at Watervale neat the Southern end of the region, and at Sevenhill, near the winery. Riesling and Cabernet were the original varieties produced, but the additions of Shiraz, Semillon and Grenache over the years have added tremendously to the Mitchell offering. Andrew grew up in the Clare Valley, and has always had tremendous respect for the area's fruit quality, in particular Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon and Shiraz. Both Andrew and Jane earned formal degrees in Wine Science and Wine Production, respectively, and have been instrumental in developing the justly deserved worldwide recognition for Clare and its wines over the past 25 years.
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.
The Clare Valley is actually a series of narrow north to south valleys, each with a different soil type and slightly different weather patterns along their stretch. In the southern heartland between Watervale and Auburn, there is mainly a crumbled, red clay loam soil called terra rossa and cool breezes come in from Gulf St. Vincent. A few miles north, in Polish Hill, is soft, red loam over clay; westerlies blowing in from the Spencer Gulf influece this area's climate.
The differences in soil, elevation, degree of slope and weather enable the region to produce some of Australia’s finest, aromatic, spicy and lime-pithy Rieslings, as well as excellent Shiraz, Cabernet Sauvignon and Malbec with ripe plummy fruit, good acid and big structure.
Clare Valley is an isolated farming country with a continental climate known for its warm and sunny days, followed by cool nights—perfect for wine grapes’ development of sugar and phenolic ripeness in conjunction with notable acidity levels.