Grenache around the world

The pale, dry, herb-scented rosé that set the international template for pink wine.

Against its siblings: lighter, leaner and more cutting, less tannic and softer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.

Spain’s fuller, deeper-coloured dry rosé, principally from Navarra and Rioja — more red-fruit weight than Provence.

Against its siblings: less tannic and softer, more fruit-driven, cleaner and more fruit-focused.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.

Spain’s most famous red: Tempranillo-led, defined as much by its oak-ageing classification as by the grape.

Against its siblings: riper and less green, more oaky, more restrained in fruit.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Prominent oak. Barrel ageing adds vanilla, toast and spice, and rounds the texture.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The entry tier of aged Rioja: a minimum of two years’ ageing with at least one in barrel, and the region’s everyday benchmark.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, riper and less green.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The top ageing tier, released years after harvest and already fully mature — one of the few wines you can buy ready to drink.

Against its siblings: more savoury, earthier, riper and less green.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Prominent oak. Barrel ageing adds vanilla, toast and spice, and rounds the texture.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The middle tier: at least three years’ ageing including a year in barrel, made only in better vintages.

Against its siblings: riper and less green, more oaky, more restrained in fruit.

• Cool climate. Slower ripening tends to retain acidity and hold alcohol down, and green or citrus notes survive where a warmer site would ripen them away.
• Prominent oak. Barrel ageing adds vanilla, toast and spice, and rounds the texture.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Grenache-led Mediterranean blends — warm, herbal and generous, and among the most reliable value in French wine.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Old bush-vine Grenache from McLaren Vale and the Barossa — perfumed, medium-bodied and transformed from its jammy past.

Against its siblings: more fruit-driven, cleaner and more fruit-focused, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Dense, savoury, affordable red from hot inland Murcia — among the best value in Spanish wine.

Against its siblings: earthier, riper and less green, stronger and warmer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Mediterranean blends from France’s largest wine region — warm, herbal and increasingly serious.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.

Low-intervention Syrah and GSM blends from old dry-farmed Swartland vines — the centre of South Africa’s new-wave movement.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, earthier, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Grenache, Syrah and Mourvèdre blends from Paso Robles and the Central Coast.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, fruitier, stronger and warmer.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The DO encircling Priorat, producing similar old-vine Garnacha and Cariñena at far lower prices.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, less oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Dense, chocolatey, high-alcohol Shiraz from some of the oldest producing vines on earth.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, riper and less green, more oaky.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Prominent oak. Barrel ageing adds vanilla, toast and spice, and rounds the texture.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

The southern Rhône’s flagship: a warm, powerful, herb-scented Grenache-led blend from stony vineyards near Avignon.

Against its siblings: more herbal and green, earthier, fruitier.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Dense, mineral Garnacha and Cariñena from steep slate terraces in Catalonia — one of only two Spanish regions at the top classification tier.

Against its siblings: earthier, more tannic and structured, riper and less green.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Maritime-cooled South Australian Shiraz — a touch fresher and more red-fruited than the Barossa, with a salted-chocolate edge.

Against its siblings: cleaner and more fruit-focused, riper and less green, fruitier.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Oak ageing. Extended time in barrel adds spice and structure and slowly softens tannin.

Roussillon’s fortified sweet wines — Banyuls, Maury and Rivesaltes — and among the few wines that genuinely work with chocolate.

• Warm climate. Fuller ripening tends to raise sugar and therefore alcohol, soften acidity, and push fruit character from tart towards ripe and jammy.
• Residual sugar. Fermentation stopped before all the sugar was consumed, which softens acidity and changes what the wine can be drunk with.