The Yalumba The Tri-Centenary Grenache 2024 is a pale, perfumed Barossa Valley Grenache made from a two-acre block of bush vines planted in 1889. It is light in colour but long in flavour, built on red fruit, spice and fine acidity rather than weight.

Strawberry and raspberry lead the aromatics, lifted by dried herbs, bay leaf, orange rind and a kirsch-like sweetness underneath. The palate follows the same line, sappy and savoury as much as fruity, with a twist of spice through the middle.

An extraordinarily long post-ferment maceration of 373 days shows in the texture: the tannins are fine and powdery rather than grippy, and they carry the wine well past the fruit. Acidity runs the full length, keeping a medium-bodied red feeling fresh and energetic, and the finish is dry, faintly earthy and persistent. A short but dry 2024 growing season in the Barossa produced small crops of concentrated fruit, and Grenache was one of the varieties that benefited most — this has flavour intensity without heaviness. Only 4,633 bottles were made.

Serve it lightly chilled with roast duck, lamb shoulder with anchovy and rosemary, mushroom risotto, or a plate of charcuterie and olives.

Drinking beautifully now and worth cellaring: expect it to hold and develop for ten to twelve years from vintage, and longer in good conditions.