Smallfry 2005 Grenache July 07

Tasting Note

Sydney Time

Smallfry 2005 Grenache July 07

When I first tried the original samples of Smallfry wines, I thought that this winery had the potential to go places, and really wanted to see how their wines would age. With this in mind, I was very naughty and did not taste the 2005 Grenache that was sent to me, deciding to hold it for 12 months so I could compare it to the next release. Also, tasting wines at 12 months of age is like trying to work out how an adult will look when they reach 25, it's not all that easy to do. It's much easier to work out how someone will look like when they are 50, when they are 15, and much the same applies with wine. It's much easier to judge a two-year-old wine than a one year old wine.

The bouquet was attractive and interesting, with ripe but off-sweet Christmas pudding aroma profile. The credible, sound structure was solid, very tight and showed some elegance. It's well backed by tightly grained tannins and pure fruit. Any sweetness is well and truly offset by the lively acid. Black cherry, dark roast coffee, star anise and chocolate make an interesting flavour profile, and the slight bitterness on the finish does not detract from the wine. With excellent power for its weight, the length is reasonable and it should still improve over the next few years.

Food friendly too! Rated as Recommended with *** for value, the rating will improve as the wine peaks. I am not normally a Grenache fan, but I thoroughly enjoyed this one.