Grenache is a variety of great importance in world and Spanish winemaking. For a time it was very widespread, although it later lost popularity in favor of other varieties that posed fewer difficulties for its cultivation and gave higher yields.
It is currently the third most widely planted grape in Spain and one of the main grapes in the world. Its importance is on the rise, and a demonstration of this fact is the.
#GrenacheDay
the only international day dedicated to a grape variety.
This international day of the Grenache grape is celebrated annually every third Friday of September, this year on September 20. Organized by the
Grenache Symposium
Its objective is to pay tribute to this grape variety, a true survivor of global viticulture through the vicissitudes of its history. There is also an international wine competition dedicated to this variety.
Grenaches Du Monde
Although it was born in the French town of Perpignan, its headquarters currently rotates among other cities.
Grenache went from being one of the most widespread varieties in world viticulture to being relegated to the background, due to the strength of other varieties. In fact, its period of splendor includes the second half of the 19th century and the first years of the 20th century. At that time, the phylloxera plague occurred in the vineyards of Europe and this caused winegrowers to adopt Grenache on a massive scale, as it was a variety that was more resistant to vine diseases. Subsequently, the tempranillo grape, which is easier to care for and has a higher yield, overtook it.
In some farms it survived out of habit, but as its production was small and its maintenance more complex, this was not the norm.
It is the main grape in areas such as
Campo de Borja
and it has a great presence in other areas such as Priorat, Montsant, etc. In addition, it is increasingly used in Navarre rosés and Rioja has rediscovered this variety. It is estimated that there are some 200,000 hectares planted with Grenache in the world, of which about 75,000 are in Spain. In fact, Spain is the country with the largest number of Garnacha wines in the world.
This is not the first time we dedicate a post to this grape variety, if you want more information you can read this article about Grenache that we published recently.
At Familia Martínez Bujanda we wanted to recover the flavor of the wines of the old Rioja, and to do so, we have used the grafting technique on the old vines of the experimental vineyard of Finca Valpiedra, grafted with Grenache buds from centenary vineyards of the upper Najerilla. The result is ours
Petra de Valpiedra
a wine of great aromatic and gustatory complexity, with all the flavor of the most authentic Rioja, which we invite you to taste.
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