Rosemount Grenache Shiraz
Winery: Rosemount Estate, New South Wales, Australia
Style: Dry Red
Year: 2001
Price Range: 1.75 L - $9 and up.
Rating: 7/10

Another entry from Australia and our first from Rosemount, one of "down unders" better known wineries (Lindemans being another). Previously we've reviewed a shiraz and a shiraz/cabernet blend, both from Australia. Now we'll look at a 50% grenache / 50% shiraz blend.

Grenache? Originally a Spanish grape, grenache is more identified with Frances southern Rhone valley by most wine drinkers. At their worst grenaches are light colored and high in alcohol, like lots of homemade wines. At best they can be deeply colored and fruity with raspberry-like flavors. Since this is a jug wine I didn't expect the best of grenache, and after my review of Cawarra Shiraz Cabernet Sauvignon, anticipated the shiraz to take front row. And of course it did, which is probably for the best. Frankly, these Aussie reds are all starting to taste the same.
Described as an "easy drinking (I suspect this is a marketing term aimed at jug wine buyers who surely like to guzzle their wines otherwise they'd buy a $30 bottle) medium bodied red", it's actually quite light bodied. It's a decent jug and a good value, nothing more. I tried it as an aperitif and later with stuffed mushrooms and a home baked sausage pizza. It worked better with the mushrooms and pizza. So, all in all, here we have another Australian red at a bargain price, which is not a bad thing. It's yet another shiraz blend (a proven commodity) that's not particularly special but certainly not disappointing.

~Bubba