It’s always instructive to look at a top gold and trophy winning wine and working out how it won the silverware. and this Serafino Reserve Grenache 2022 really won big, taking out Halliday’s Grenache Challenge/the Grenache Trophy at the 2023 McLaren Vale Wine Show.

I can see why this won – it’s such a singular flow of Grenache. Like asking, ‘Siri, show me a modern McLaren Vale Grenache’. Glossy, bright, and open with lipstick, some grape Hubba Bubba carbonic juiciness, a flowing palate of fruit with minimal tannins but maximal mid-palate fruit generosity. It’s not complex, but so varietal and open. I like it, and I like the price a lot too.

THE VERDICT

• Best drinking: now, no hurry
• Score (out of 20): 18
• Score (out of 100): 93
• Alcohol %: 14
• RRP (in $AUD): 40.00
• Winery website: https://serafinowines.com.au/
• Would I buy it?: I’d drink most of a bottle