Grenache 2022 – Black Market Deal #59582

Unfined and unfiltered winemaking preserves the wine's natural texture and complexity by avoiding processes that can strip away flavour compounds and colour pigments. This traditional approach allows the Barossa Valley fruit to express its full character, resulting in a wine with more body, deeper colour, and enhanced mouthfeel. You might notice slight sediment over time, which is completely normal and actually indicates the wine's authentic, minimal-intervention production.

Serve this Grenache slightly below room temperature, around 16-18°C, to highlight its raspberry and strawberry fruit while maintaining the spice complexity. Decanting for 30-60 minutes will help open up the wine's dramatic character, especially if you're drinking it young. The medium body and vibrant fruit make it perfect for pairing with grilled meats, Mediterranean dishes, or aged cheeses that won't overpower its elegant structure.

The 2022 vintage in Barossa Valley benefited from ideal growing conditions with moderate temperatures and well-timed rainfall, allowing grapes to ripen slowly and develop concentrated flavours while retaining natural acidity. This balance is crucial for Grenache, which can easily become overripe in hot climates. The result is wines with exceptional fruit purity, structural integrity, and aging potential - exactly what you see reflected in this wine's impressive 93-point ratings from multiple critics.

Right now, you'll experience vibrant primary fruit flavours of raspberry and strawberry with fresh spice notes - perfect for immediate enjoyment. Over 5-8 years of cellaring, the wine will develop secondary characteristics like leather, earth, and dried herbs while the tannins soften and integrate. Grenache is known for graceful aging, often becoming more complex and savoury while maintaining its core fruit character, making this wine rewarding at any stage of its evolution.

Barossa Valley's warm, dry climate and ancient soils produce Grenache with distinctive power and concentration compared to cooler regions like Adelaide Hills or McLaren Vale. The valley's old vine Grenache plantings, some over 100 years old, contribute to the wine's depth and complexity. While other regions might emphasise elegance or freshness, Barossa Grenache like The Matador showcases bold fruit intensity balanced by earthy minerality - a style that's become internationally recognised as uniquely Australian.