2016 d'Arenberg Grenache The Custodian

Community Tasting Notes (3) Avg Score: 88.4 points

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  4/29/2022 - Psdycp wrote: 89 Points

  A soft aroma of earthy ginger, raspberries and redcurrant compote, white pepper and toasted star anise greet you as you swirl the glass. The palate is more fruit forward with lots of peppery spices. The almost full-bodied structure is tight and surrounded with firm tannins for now. This needs a few more years for the tannins to be fully integrated into the structure and reveal the fine elements underneath.

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  3/7/2020 - rwpalmer wrote: 85 Points

  Pretty colour but absolutely no nose whatsoever even after being given air. Lean, not especially concentrated. Maybe there is still an upside to come, though I just can't quite see it...

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  10/16/2019 - forceberry wrote: 92 Points

  Old-vine Grenache. The grapes are transferred to open-top fermenters where the grapes are foot-trodden through 2/3 of the fermentation, after which the must is basked-pressed and racked to old French and American oak barrels to carry out the rest of the fermentation. Aged on the lees in these same barrels for 9 months, until the final blending. Bottled unfined and unfiltered. 14,5% alcohol, 1,2 g/l residual sugar, 6,5 g/l acidity and pH 3,49.
  
  Translucent black cherry color. Surprisingly dry, spicy and savory nose for a Grenache with aromas of strawberry-driven red fruit, some licorice, a little of savory wood spice, light dark chocolate tones, a hint of blueberry and a touch of pomegranate. The wine is dry, robust and noticeably bitter on the palate with moderately full body and intense flavors of peppery spice, fresh wild strawberries, some blueberry tones, a little bit of ripe blackberry, light notes of dried herbs and herbal Amaro character, a hint of fresh red plums and a touch of earth. The high alcohol lends some warmth to the mouthfeel. Overall the wine comes across as remarkably structured - not only for a Grenache but for an Australian red wine - with its bright, crunchy acidity and surprisingly assertive, grippy tannins. The finish is long, somewhat warm and quite grippy with fresh, savory flavors of wild strawberries, noticeable Amaro bitterness, a little bit of charred game, light notes of savory wood, a hint of peppery spice and a touch of crunchy crowberry.
  
  If one's preconceptions of an Australian Grenache is along the lines how a soft, ripe and somewhat blowzy Southern-Rhône Grenache tastes like, this wine might come across as bit of a surprise, since it has nothing to do with them. Instead, this feels more like a surprisingly lean new world take on the classic old-vine Garnachas of Terra Alta or other less-known parts of Spain. Unlike those soft, fruity and eminently accessible Grenache wines one normally encounters from Australia, there is nothing welcoming nor apologetic here. This is very savory, structured and even surprisingly bitter effort with remarkable purity of fruit; although this isn't fruity like an average Grenache would be, this is still brimming with Grenache (or, more like Garnacha) fruit - it's just very dry, concentrated and understated in style. This feels like a wine that is quite forbidding and tough in its youth, requiring several years - or even more than a decade - of aging before starting to sing. Definitely needs some breathing in a decanter just to coax out as much fruit as possible. All in all, this is a lovely, dead-serious Grenache. Expect the score to go up with age. Highly recommended.

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