A paean to a much-maligned but remarkably versatile grape

Grenache is the ultimate all-rounder. A red grape native to Aragon in Spain, where it’s called garnacha, it can make everything from pale rosé to fortified wine; it’s even used in cava. If there was one grape to take to your desert island, it would have to be grenache, not least because you’d never get bored.

Grenache’s very adaptability means that it has historically been seen as a workhorse, with none of the glamour of, say, pinot noir or syrah. But that’s slowly beginning to change thanks to winemakers such as Justin Howard-Sneyd, a former supermarket wine buyer who now makes wine at Domaine of the Bee in Roussillon. “If you love the perfume and sexiness of pinot noir, but appreciate a riper, rounder style of wine, then I don’t think you need to look much further than grenache,” he says of the grape’s appeal. If you want to know what Howard-Sneyd means, try his excellent The Bee-Side ( Hic! has the 14.5% 2022 for £23.75 ).