Grenache is an elite variety from Southern France—the yang to syrah’s yin. As syrah has found a welcome home at Troon Vineyard, so too has grenache–our second-most widely planted variety, after syrah. Grenache plays a key role in our red blends here at Troon, but 2024 was the first vintage we let it shine as a stand-alone varietal wine.

The grapes for our 2024 Amphora Grenache were harvested from September 30th to October 4th. One component of this wine (clone 362) was fermented in five different amphorae —three with destemmed grapes and two with 50% whole cluster. The other component of this wine (clone 513) was fermented in a large concrete vessel with 50% whole cluster. 

As with all wines at Troon, no additives, acid or sugar adjustments, enzymes, or sulfur additions were used at crush. After fermenting for about 3 weeks, the wines were pressed off and returned to the amphorae for aging. Due to the space taken up by the actual grapes, after pressing off the five amphorae, there was enough wine to refill three of them. The remaining two amphorae were then filled with the grenache that had fermented in the concrete vessel. Thus, 3/5ths of this final blend was fermented and aged in amphorae, while 2/5ths was fermented in concrete and aged in amphorae. The final blend also contains roughly 35% whole cluster.

Grenache is a perfect fit for aging in amphorae. Terra cotta amphorae do not add or mask any flavors while supporting richness and texture, especially across the mid-palate, leading to a very transparent, natural expression in the wine. After about 10 months of aging in amphorae, the wine was racked to a tank, where a small amount of sulfur was added, and then bottled unfined and unfiltered.