2023 Torbreck Les Amis Grenache

A rich, opulent Grenache with liqueur like concentration and power.

Matured for 18 months French barrique (40% new). Very deep black dark red colour with a dark red hue. Heady scents of black raspberry, liquorice, black plum and black cherry waft through the olfactory senses. Also chiming in are earthy incense like notes, vanillin spice and peppered dried herbs. Rich and liqueur like in its concentration and power, the palate is saturated in a tidal wave of black raspberry, liquorice and black plum fruits. Vanillin spice, black cherry, scorched earth and subtle peppered dried herb elements form the back drop. Opulently textured it has ripe, slightly chewy tannins and a long, heat shaded finish.
Drink over the next 5-6 years.
Alc. 15.5%

Other Reviews…..
Made from 1960s-planted Grenache, this is a serious, super-concentration wine with more than a touch of Gandalf’s pipe on the nose! Only 100 cases were made, and it is the darkest and most cosmic wine I have tasted under this label. This is a fabulous, single-site, dry-grown vineyard with super-low yields. There is a deeply foresty wine with incredible DNA, and the palate is bloody, ferrous, complex and herbal. There is a deep, dark chocolate and cherry-red ganache rebound of flavour on the finish, making this sylvan creation decadent, too.
19+/20
Matthew Jukes

The 2023 Les Amis Grenache is the highest in elevation of the three single-vineyard Grenache vineyards. It is planted on bluestone and ironstone gravels in clay soils, and the vines were planted recently—some time in the 1980s. The vineyard is exposed and the soils shallow, so the vines work hard here. In the mouth, this is spicy and medium-bodied, with an attractive freshness that has nothing to do with the ripeness nor, upon questioning, the pH or total acidity, as the numbers relate pretty similarly to the other Grenache wines on the bench. The cooler, wetter season may play a part. In short, this is a lovely wine! 15.5% alcohol, sealed under natural cork. Drink 2026-2038.
94 Points
Erin Larkin – Robert Parker’s The Wine Advocate