Dylan Grigg’s Vinya Vella Grenache 2023

I would not normally review a pure Grenache wine on this site unless I have obtained permission from The Editor to use the construction, “I would rather die”.

I would not normally review a wine from the Barossa Valley unless I had obtained permission from The Editor to use the construction, “I would rather they died”.

So, here I am about to review Dylan Grigg’s Vinya Vella Grenache 2023 from the Barossa Valley, and I am not starting with obtaining those permissions. They may be sought later but, for now, bear with me whilst I explain why this might not be a memorably emetic experience.

Vinya Vella Grenache wine is was sold to me by my friend of 34 years Lance Foyster, who has been selling me utterly beautiful kit since I was only just allowed to buy the stuff.

That was the thing that made me beg and plead Lance to sell me some Vinya Vella Grenache: he sells utterly beautiful kit. Lance’s wines have always been the embodiment of sculpted minimalism and poise – what in the name of blazing fuck is he doing selling a booze-monster from the soup factory Barossa Valley?

When challenged on this to the degree that my eyes were bulging at him through my text messages, he makes some very good points. He sells Greek whites, that are often 14% yet are unfailingly fresh and balanced. He sells a lot of perky, sprightly Austrian lovelies, and they can be over 14%.

He also makes the good point about typicity. One would not expect a Chateauneuf to be 12.5%, and yet good Chateauneuf does exist! I think I have had as many as two since I moved to Winchester. More seriously, I have had savoury, balanced Chateauneuf that has been quite heroically charged with booze… Just not very many of them…

This is a point that Elitistreview contributor Ricard has demonstrated with some excellent Priorat. They have been completely soaked in alcohol, and yet been balanced and, in their way, quite fresh.

I have to say this is a view I concur with very seriously. It is not absolute level of alcohol that matters, it is the expression of it relative to all the other characteristics of the wine.

One does not complain that 7% German Riesling is ‘dilute’; the alcohol level in them is perfect relative to the expression of the other characteristics of the wine. They are delicate little beauties, but balanced, and Ricard’s Priorat have been strapping titans, but also balanced.

All of this is very well and good, but this is still Lance selling a Barossa Grenache and, even more unlikely, selling some to me! There is more to this…

The chap who grows the old vines from which Vinya Vella Grenache is made, Dylan Grigg, comes to Lance via the excellent chap Mac Forbes. Mac indisputably grows great grapes. His wines may be somewhat girly, but he grows great grapes with care and consideration and is passionate about how they are transfigured into wine. If Mac likes a chap, it is probative of him being good.

Is Dylan Grigg good? For starters, he is the 2026 Halliday viticulturalist of the year. He is hardly ever at home because his services are in demand all over Australia.

When he is at home? This post from his blog is a distillation of his doctoral thesis on old vines. As we know, *ahem* ‘people with doctorates’ are serious people to be trusted. Read some more of his blog and it is clear Mr Grigg is a passionate, knowledgeable and extremely talented viticulturalist.

He honed his skills in Catalunya, where he looked after ancient Grenache vines (‘Vinya vella’, if you had not guessed, means ‘old vines’ in Catalan), he then worked on his thesis whilst running his viticultural consultancy, including working for the previous owners of the Vinya Vella Grenache vineyard. They suddenly announced they were selling it, and he bought it in a trice.

Why did he buy it? Two reasons: the vineyard and the vines. Rather than direct you to another website or re-heat quality content, I quote Lance on them both below:

The vineyard is located in Vine Vale, in the Eastern Barossa. This is a perfect location for Grenache with its deep, sandy loam. Think of the great terroirs for Grenache: sand is common to most of them. Dylan says: “Here the soil is special due to its very deep water table and very sandy profile which overlies a sandy yellow-red clay”. These attributes mean vines have moderate nutrition from the sand in spring, for growth, yet long term availability of stored water within the deep clay to remain healthy in a hot dry summer.

And these are Very Old Vines, ungrafted, with a story.(Davy notes: see the blog post I link to above). His vineyard forms a part of the family of original Grenache vines, brought from Europe (France) in the mid-19th Century, before Phylloxera in the late-19th Century destroyed all the mother plants. So, in pockets of Australia, (and South Africa), can be found the oldest vines of Syrah on earth (and the ten times rarer Grenache). There are only 23 hectares of Grenache older than 125 years in Australia.

From that 23ha, the Vinya Vella Grenache vineyard comprises 4ha. God lord, what a thing to own! Even given the unspeakable nature of Grenache, who would not want to own one-sixth of the oldest examples of it on the freaking planet? Not only that, but that 4ha is in, potentially, perfect Grenache terroir, with vines that will have developed epic epigenetic adaptation to the conditions there… Wow…

Matt Walls, Rhône editor for Decanter, has mocked my scoffing of Vinya Vella Grenache, calling it a “Brilliant wine”. Mac Forbes thinks Mr Grigg is a seriously talented chap. Lance, the wine merchant I trust more than any other, says it has balance, and sells it, to me!?! Is it possible The Editor will be in for a good time this evening?

It is minds set to ‘Open’, palates set to ‘New experiences’, and in we dive!

Vinya Vella Grenache 2023, Dylan Grigg

OK, let us get one thing out of the way first. This wine is 14.5%. It is clearly alcoholic. But that, it turns out, is just that background. It is just the cloth on which the tapestry is woven. It is, in many ways, irrelevant to the main experience of this wine…

The fervorosity of fresh, livid raspberry fruit on the nose of this is… barely credible! But it is plain for The Editor and me to smell. Fresh, bright, perfectly ripe raspberries, with nary a hint of over-ripeness. These aromas are distinctly attractive!

There is a deep and satisfying depth to the nose of Vinya Vella Grenache as well. Also, some rough-hewn mineral aromas and, my, do these make the wine punch above its weight for a £30-ish offering. The bright, vivacious intensity of the whole ensemble is apertily remarkable, and the depth of character on display here is veridically pleasurable, delightful… hell, it is brilliant!

And the palate? There is a bit of fruit liqueur character, but it nowhere near as sickly as that found in the 14.5% Hermitage in this tasting. It is prevalently fruit one gets as the main characteristic when one tastes. Intense, fresh… my god! Searingly acidic fruit. There is some tannin here, enough of it for a wine this ripe. The structure, however, is all about fruit-acid balance.

Vinya Vella Grenache is finely, exquisitely balanced too. There is something else to the syncrasy of this wine as well… The Editor thinks I need a hint and asks me to think about ‘minerality’.

He is right, you know? Along with the acid slash there is a powerful lash of mineral effulgence. It is remarkably brilliant. I find it harder than you think to type this, but that fresh fruit/high acid/mineral burn character is, in some way, reminiscent of Riesling.

How could I possibly be saying this about a Barossa Grenache?

Well, Vinya Vella Grenache can be bought, tried and you will be convinced, unless you are just a cynic – a tiny-minded malcontent. There is a lot here to love and anyone with the small degree of intelligence required to see beyond the “14.5%” on the label, I promise you, you will love this.

Vinya Vella Grenache has depth, harmony, freshness(!), complexity(!!), and so much delight!!! Équipe Elitistreview are totally sold, and we happily recommend this wine to any lover of stylish things.

Ageing? Oh good grief, I have no idea! The Editor wants us to drink our remaining bottles within two years. I think, for the sake of experimentation, we should aim to keep one for five to ten. We only have two bottles left; ah, there is no way this wine is going to remain in our wine fridge for long.

I have not had Rayas in almost three decades, so I am a bit out of touch with the pinnacles of French Grenache. This is certainly incomparably better than the filth that is Domaine Santa Duc. Vinya Vella Grenache is also far better than the single Comando G wine I have tried. I have not had pure Grenache quite like this in reliable memory. This is a memorable wine. This is damn-good wine.

Hats off, Mr Grigg, you have the fruit and you have excited and pleasured us with it! This wine will deservedly become a cult hit.

I honestly, seriously suggest you buy some from Clark Foyster Wines.