Currently this is my late afternoon sipping red.
Recall that big companies have run the Barossa until the last decade. They had no time for strange varieties and the whole lot went into a big fermenter to make a good, honest red. Today it is not so different though they are waking to the value of Grenache and Mataro. I recall a small vineyard of Carignan right at the front door of the famed Penfolds Kalimna property in the northern Barossa and was heart broken when I was told recently it had been pulled out.
Carignan is a Spanish, French, classic Mediterranean variety which has a long history in the Barossa and was used to make fortified wines.
The Barossa is now changing fast as small grower-makers are on the march. Dozens of varieties long ignored, and newly planted varieties are now given the care and attention they need. This is now coinciding with a more advanced and mature drinker that has expanded beyond Barossa Shiraz.
Less the big noise of Shiraz and more the fragrance of Grenache is the way to approach this variety.
