A while back I was enthusing here about Grenache Blanc, and several people told me to keep an eye out for Grenache Gris. Well, I found one – it’s from Domaine Jones, whose wines I reviewed a while back. The packaging is very stylish and so is the wine. Presumably Grenache Blanc, Gris and Noir are the same variety, as with Pinot, just different clones (although we like to think of them as separate varieties).
Domaine Jones Blanc 2011 IGP Cotes Catalanes, France
13% alcohol. From an 80 year old Grenache Gris vineyard under the Queribus castle. Lovely hint of matchstick reduction on the nose. It shows broad, rounded, ripe pear fruit with just a hint of vanilla. Nice texture and depth with mineral freshness. 91/100
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4 Comments on A lovely Grenache Gris from Domaine Jones
Sadly she doesn’t now have wide UK distribution – we’d have tried a little bit but the wines, whilst good, aren’t cheap. I didn’t taste them but the prices were too steep to risk shipping which is a real shame. A UK agent would mean we might be prepared to give them an initial try and see what happens. Sadly appellations like Fitou have a ‘price’ for the vast majority of UK consumers.
Domaine Jones wines are now available DPD in the UK, I’ll drop you a line, Katie
And available retail from Fareham Wine Cellar.
Sorry for the shameless plug!
Dominic.
The reduction is something I’ve come across a lot in grenache Gris and Blanc. I’m wondering whether it’s a flavour of the grape, or something that winemakers bring intentionally, either because it works well with the flavour profile or because, like Grenache noir, they’re prone to oxidation…