Garnacha

Pure Garnacha from Casas de Eufemia

Carres names its Pico d'Agila 2022 after a plot in Casas de Eufemia near Requena. José Luis Torres Carpio farms 60-year-old bush vines there without irrigation, on less than 200 millimetres of rain a year, in sand over clay that starts 70 centimetres down. He ferments with wild yeasts and ages the wine in second- and third-fill barriques. The Pico d'Agila has 13.5 percent alcohol and smells of cherry and raspberry.

One grape, a name for each language

In Catalonia the grape is Garnatxa, in France Grenache, in Sardinia Cannonau. Its thin skin gives up little colour, which is why Garnacha reds are often pale and why it goes into so many Provence rosés. In the Ribeira Sacra it makes up a small share of Algueira's Patrimonio and of the Guímaro blends. You will also meet Garnacha Tintorera there, a red-fleshed crossing that shares only the name.

Grenache in Bandol and the Luberon

In Bandol, Grenache plays second to Mourvèdre: 25 percent in the Bandol Rosé from Trois Filles, 35 at La Suffrène, 19 at Gros'Noré. In the sisters' Côtes de Provence 2025 it rises to 60 percent with only 5 percent Mourvèdre. Domaine de la Coquillade, in the Luberon nature park, blends it with Syrah in the Coquillade Rouge 2023, 52 to 48, while its rosés hold just 5 percent. How the Arlon sisters came to their estate in Les Lauves is told in Trois Filles: the three daughters of the pink house.

Sparkling Garnacha

In Requena, Pago de Tharsys turns Garnacha Tinta into sparkling wine with a second fermentation in bottle. For the Único Reserva 2019 the red grapes are pressed so gently that the result is a golden Blanc de Noirs, aged 36 months on the lees, 2,480 bottles. The Cerámica Gran Reserva rosé Cava spends at least 50 months on the lees and gets no dosage. Viña de Eufemia blends organically farmed Garnacha from near Requena with Pinot Noir from Campo Arcís for its Carrasca Negra.

How we serve Garnacha

Drink the Pico d'Agila at 14 to 16°C, slightly chilled in summer, with tapas, grilled vegetables or chicken with tomato and herbs. If you buy only one Garnacha, make it this one rather than a rosé, because here the grape stands alone as a red. Pour the Coquillade Rouge at 16 to 18°C with lamb or ratatouille. Open the Único Reserva with oysters or fish, ideally in a white wine glass instead of a narrow flute.