There are two days on the calendar that really excite me above all else as far as the wine year is concerned: picking day for the Three Brians Grenache grapes and… International Grenache Day!
Three Brians picking day is the chance to finally hold the little Grenache bunches, that Craig and his dad (Brian) have looked after for months, in our hands. Based on the fact that we enjoy picking help from our mates – and that we very rarely pick over 700kg – the picking and processing takes a fair bit less time than the eating, drinking and celebrating part of the day. Picking starts at 7.30/8am and generally finishes at 10am, so we feel it’s appropriate to focus on lighter wines at this point and give the rest of the ferments an RDO (yes, we’re that sensible at 10am; we must be getting old.)
International Grenache Day is another awesome occasion for us, as we get to share wines like the new release Three Brians and Maurice with some great mates in the restaurant world. You might recall that last year I spent the 2015 International Grenache Day celebrating with Izway’s mates in Perth and Cottesloe. This year, I’m in Melbourne and will be loitering at Harry and Frankie Fitzroy with some Izway bottles kicking around. Sharing the love with South East Asia, Craig will also be pouring Izway at some Grenache events up in Singapore, a place with cuisine that screams out for some fine Barossa Valley Grenache.
The fact that this year’s International Grenache Day coincides with our Grenache six pack offer of lovely 2015 stock is an added bonus. There are only 300 bottles of the Three Brians left out of the 700 produced in total. So, pin your ears back folks and get amongst our finest Grenache wines to date.
Happy International Grenache Day, from all of us at Izway.
Brian Conway
