2016 Bekkers McLaren Vale Grenache
Bekkers Grenache 2016 has a deliciously spicy, very layered, complex nose and palate. Deeply embedded, its Imperial Leather blend of spices (think sandalwood and anise) and old vine earth/moss notes are, like the Wirra Wirra, superbly integrated into the fabric of this wine. It is an outlier in terms of time in oak, spending significantly longer than the others (17m versus 7.5-11 months) in (500l) seasoned french oak. It makes for a slightly more emphatic savouriness but, although it has greater concentration and fruit weight, its sleek melange of red and black berry and cherry remains lively and persistent – as lingering as the spice, thanks to palate-cleaving fine, granular, very mineral tannins. An anchor for the flavours.