Schwarz Thiele Road Grenache 2017

There aren’t many wines that make it from sample pile to drinking pile at Graham HQ. The Schwarz wines do regularly, however. This Grenache comes from a vineyard planted in 1941 and is wild fermented with some whole bunches. Promising (as ever). Bright ruby fruit, it’s a picture of a good, nay delicious, modern red fruited Grenache. A bitter stemmy crunch, the barest a whisper of vanilla oak and then a somewhat warm, sappy palate. Deep but only medium bodied with a real juicy, rounded and smooth middle. It’s ripe, it’s generous, it’s sunny and it’s so substantial – another attractive Grenache that I would want to drink. Best drinking: Now and maybe 8 years. It will likely just soften, so any time in the medium term is good. 18/20, 93/100. 14.3%, $45. Would I buy it? I’d have a bottle for sure.