Opening up your very early wines has to be a vulnerable experience.
There your babies are, with all their foibles, looking creaky/great. Not that I’d know how this feels, of course, because I tipped out my student wines in disgust (they were junk and deserved it). But I can at least guess this is how Alex Head felt opening every Head Wines Grenache he’s ever made for us over lunch recently.
He didn’t need to worry; those early wines looked great.
Alex and I have been friends for twenty-odd years now, harking back to our old Sydney wine retail days when we’d go out and drink Burgundy that we couldn’t afford. I’ve also seen some of the very early, largely unreleased Head Wines releases right through to the vintages, so this wasn’t an unfamiliar exercise, more a great opportunity to track how the wines changed.
There’s been plenty of stylistic evolution here, too. The Head Wines story starts back in 2006, when Alex decided he wanted to become a winemaker. He’d spent years working for the legendary Ultimo Wine Centre and then at Langton’s (back when it was good), and was a huge Rhone fan, so the Barossa was a natural starting point for winemaking.
Initially, however, it was a quest to make great, savoury Shiraz that was the focal point. Then, in 2009, he started working with Marco Cirillo in Vine Vale and couldn’t understand why Grenache wasn’t the most important wine in the Barossa (which is not hard when you spend some time in Marco’s amazing 1848-planted vineyard).
Alex was thus convinced that he was going to make a Chateauneuf take in the Barossa, and the Head Wines Old Vine Grenache was born. The inaugural 2009 release also used fruit from Marco’s vineyard, which was matured in a reconditioned 100-year-old barrel from Chateau Yaldara. That 2009 was warmly received (from my hazy memory), and by the following year, Alex had secured fruit from the old Greenock Farm property (now Alkina) and was shortly taking all the old vine fruit off that estate.
Over the years, the Head Wines Grenache story has grown to the point where Alex was taking fruit from 10 different old-vine Barossa Grenache vineyards. That has now slimmed down to 3-6 growers, with a shift also from Barossa Valley floor vineyards to more Eden Valley fruit.
That’s not the only change – in 2011, he introduced a rule that he wouldn’t add or remove anything from these wines (except for sulphur), embracing wild ferments in old oak (except for 2016, which saw some new wood) with no fining or filtration. There have also been subtle shifts in production methods, undoubtedly influenced by some of the winemakers Alex has worked with over the years, including Marco Cirillo and Damien Tscharke.
Looking at this vertical as a group, I dip my lid to what ‘Heady’ has achieved. These are pretty great advertisements for how good Barossa Grenache can taste, and the Old Vine Grenache is also, contextually, extremely well priced – especially for a wine that can be as little as 100 dozen in production (though closer to 300 in recent years).
Let’s take a look at some of the Old Vine Grenache, then, hey? A caveat that these notes are a bit rushed, as I was trying to absorb all the stories, eat the delicious Fix St James food (as above. So good), taste the wines, and write at the same time, which is a level of multitasking that even my restlessness can’t perfectly manage.
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2009
The OG, made in an old port barrel from Chateau Yaldara with fruit from Marco Cirillo’s 1848 vineyard. 10% whole bunches, 10 months in oak. pH 3.7, TA 5.4g/L. 100 dozen produced. Tea leaf and caramel development – quite forward, and with what would have been quite a bit of lusciousness in its youth. Coffeed and caramel, but a solid black fruit core in there too. Drink up, but lots of charm too. 17.7/20, 92/100. 14.5%.
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2010
Greenock fruit from the Russell (now Alkina) vineyard, planted in the 1950s. pH 3.7, TA 5.4g/L. Plush and much more youthful than the 2009. Brick dust, but more youth and chunky power rather than just developed. Red dirt, black jubes in red dirt, fine powdery tannins. Just a bit of warmth. This is quality aged Grenache, with a nod especially to the fine powdery tannins. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.5%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2011
Greenock fruit from the Russell Vineyard. No whole bunches this (famously wet and humid) harvest, 12 months in old oak. pH 3.7, TA 5.8g/L. Volume is up – 300 dozen produced. A very different wine. Lucid raspberry fruit, slightly bony with a dark peppery pointiness. Pretty, with a Pinot-esque raspberry fruit vibe. Lacks some intensity, but crisp and quite fine. An anomaly wine, but not insignificant. 17.5/20, 91/100. 13.5%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2012
Fruit from the Hongell Vineyard at Krondorf, planted in 1942. 15% whole bunches. 11 months in oak. pH 3.7, TA 4.9g/L. 250 dozen produced. Real glycerol sweetness at the moment. Lush and round – a more classic archetype. Feels super youthful too. There’s a little treacly warmth to the texture, and it gets a bit large on the finish. A big wine for this lineup but has a coffee, swashbuckling blackness too. Has a bit of a Chateauneuf leatheriness. Just a big warm, but pretty grand. 18/20, 93/100. 15.1%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2013
Fruit also from the Hongell Vineyard. pH 3.6, TA 4.8g/L. Interestingly, I found this to be a tiring and unusual wine, which was perplexing. I bailed up Alex, who thought this had plenty of botrytis and was also falling over. It’s a curious wine, with a hint of reduction, this weird bran flavour, cherries and a lack of fruit clarity. I didn’t see the botrytis, but it just felt stripped and weird. 16.8/20, 89/100. 14.3%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2014
Hongell Vineyard fruit. pH 3.7, TA 4.9g/L. 200 dozen produced. A return to earth. Still quite tight, a little angular, but a much more medium-bodied wine, with a cold tea and hazelnut edge. A solid core of caramel fruit, but hardly generous given the alcohol. It’s plenty drinkable, if not profound. 17.5/20, 91/100. 14.8%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2015
Back to the Russell Vineyard at Greenock. Back to 10% whole bunches, too, and this vintage spends 17 months in old oak. pH 3.8, TA 5.1g/L. 350 dozen produced. Back to an open, luscious vibe. Dusty caramel, a bit of dark red fruit. Plenty of acidity and a mediumness here, but then a firmer rasp of tannins. A contemplative wine in this lineup, that is both powerful and yet contained. High quality. 18/20, 93/100+. 14.4%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2016
The first vintage to include some Eden Valley fruit, with 30% of the blend here from the Stonegarden vineyard in Springton, planted in 1858, the rest from the Russell Vineyard. One of the only wines in this lineup to include some new oak. pH 3.7, TA 4.9g/L. 200 dozen produced. A significant change in style. Juicy, open, and has a more obvious,oak-shaped flashiness with very fine tannins. A return to a mod Barossa wine. Quite generous, open, fun, not tiring energy and a joyous berry sandy finish. Those powdery tannins are excellent. Liked this. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.5%.
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2017
All Stonegarden fruit. 11 months in old oak. pH 3.8, TA 5.0. Open, lavish, with a bit of a sausage, gentle open fun. Tannins are pretty light, but that pork sausagey peppery edge and gummy red currant streak is delicious. Maybe a bit short. Open and delicious, though. 18/20, 93/100. 15%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2018
80% Stonegarden fruit with 20% off Bob Mclean’s Menglers Farm on Menglers Hill. pH 3.6, TA 5.1g?l. Just a little treacle and ripe coffeed thickness. Generous, with a sort of black jellybean intensity and a hint of bitterness. Has a wonderful shape and open depths of fruit. Good and delicious. 18/20, 93/100. 14.1%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2019
60% off the Hongell’s Vineyard at Krondorf and 40% from Stonegarden. pH 3.5, TA 5.8g/L. This feels modern and evocative – a bit of Turkish delight and some blackness. It’s a very ripe wine and very luscious. A little baked and with a bit of baked earth. Really seductive if maybe a bit flashy. I like its swagger and intensity. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.8%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2020
70% Hongells at Krondorf and 30% Menglers Hill. 400 dozen produced. PH 3.5, TA 5.6g/L. There’s a glycerol richness and polish here. Polished, somewhat raspberried and ultimately quite gentle. This is lovely, smooth, and soft. Is it profound? Maybe not. But such seduction. 18/20, 93/100. 14.4%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2021
100% Stonegarden. 17 months in old oak. 60 dozen produced. pH 3.6, TA 5.5g/L. Fragrant and very different – violet and purple berries. Could almost be Shiraz. Purple boysenberry. Fascinating wine. Very pretty but just coming together. 18/20, 93/100+. 14.5%
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2022
80% Hongell Vineyard, 20% Stonegarden. 300 dozen produced. pH 3.4, TA 5.5g/L. Another primary, high-toned wine. Red gummy bears, a bit of musk. It feels more substantial than the 2021 though – a bit swishy concentration of purple fruit power. Great wine its purpleness and extrovert concentration. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.5%.
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2023
From the Riebke Vineyard at Ebenezer (planted in 1950) with a little Mataro in the blend this year. No whole bunches. 16 months in old French & Austrian oak. pH 3.6, TA 5.2g/L. A silken and raspberried wine of open, polished and pretty gummy red fruit. Maybe a bit soft but delicious – this felt altogether too formative for now. 17.7/20, 92/100+. 14.6%.
Head Wines Old Vine Grenache 2024
80% Mattschoss Vineyard at Pewsey Valey planted in the 1940s, 20% Riebke Vineyard at Ebenezer but this block from the 1880s. Back to 11 months in old oak. pH 3.7, TA 4.9g/L. Hard to place this – it’s very young with a pretty red fruit energy if a bit singular and a little light on tannin. It’s very much a barrel sample, an incomplete drawing. 17.7/20, 92/100+. 14.5%
The Ancestor Vine Grenache Vertical
In 2012, Alex was invited (along with five others) by then-owner David Hamilton to make Grenache from the Stonegarden Vineyard at Springton. This 20-hectare vineyard in the southeast of the Eden Valley, planted in 1858, has quite a reputation in the Barossa, but historically more from winemakers than as a stand-alone brand, having had a succession of owners rather than being represented as a distinct brand, or at least up until the last decade. Stonegarden is an amazing resource, however, with not just 165-year-old Grenache but also Riesling, Cabernet Sauvignon, Mataro, Shiraz, and a fascinating mashup of white grapes, including Muscat, Verdelho, Sauvignon Blanc, and more (plus rogue vines of super rarities in Australia, like Trincadiera).
In 2013, Alex took a tonne of Grenache grapes from Stonegarden and the Head Wines Ancestor Vine Grenache was born. The pitch here was a single vineyard celebration of what truly ancient Barossa vines can deliver. Launched at $100, which Alex calls ‘a bit crazy at the time’, these wines have always felt special, and looking at them compared to the quality Old Vines Grenache, there is just another layer of intensity.
Interestingly, the low yields of this famed block also throw up some challenges. The Stonegarden vines produce just half a tonne of fruit per acre, which is remarkable (context: Grand Cru Burgundy plots are allowed to yield 35L/ha, which works out to be 1.9t/acre), and it’s more about tannin management with such small berries. At low pH, the tannins are really ‘accentuated’ according to Alex.
The word has really got out about Stonegarden Grenache nowadays – in those early years, the fruit was closer to $2000 a tonne, whereas it’s now north of $5000 a tonne. Rockford has recently taken over the vineyard, but Alex (and Brett Grocke from Esperosa, who was a longtime manager of the Stonegarden vineyard) are both confident of maintaining access to the fruit (for now).
Notably, Alex always smells something like ‘Turkish Delight or rosewater’ in these wines, and as soon as he said that, I couldn’t not smell it. Apparently, cuttings from Stonegarden Grenache when planted elsewhere in the Barossa tend to exhibit the same character. Also note that the Ancestor Vines is not made every vintage, hence the holes in this vertical.
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2013
A hot and short vintage. 100% whole bunches. 10 months in old oak. 60 doz produced. pH 3.7, TA 5.4g/L. Lovely. Very ripe and a little syrupy, but has a blackness of tannins to it. This is excellent. A grainy wine and quite luscious. Grandiose and drinking wonderfully. 18.7/20, 95/100. 14.8%
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2014
Mild year with moderate yields. 25% whole bunches. 11 months in old oak. 100 doz produced. pH 3.6 TA 5.2g/L. Polished, black, luscious, but not heavy. You can see the Turkish Delight in droves! A bit less grainy sugar ripeness and more moody blackness here – it’s a slow burner. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.7%
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2015
‘One of the great Grenache years’ says Alex. Mild to warm year with above-average yields. 20% whole bunches. 130 doz produced. 17 months in old oak. pH 3.6, TA 5.4g/L. Lovely, rich, and generous, this is an archetype, a bit of warmth and blackness, a bit of licorice and mulch, perfect poise: excellent in a more polished sort of mode and expansive. Great Grenache. 18.7/20, 95/100. 14.6%
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2016
Warm to hot year with average yields. 20% whole bunches. 17 months in oak (compared to the usual 10-11 months). 130 doz produced. pH 3.6, TA 5.7g/L. A big, hot year and feels a bit blanched – it’s not quite as gentle and moderate, a bit more spiky and quite forward. Yes, there is the expanse, but I prefer the more open Old Vine this year, as this feels a bit dusty and less vivacious. Still a high-quality wine. 18/20, 93/100. 14.5%.
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2019
Hot and dry year with very low yields. 20% whole bunches. 11 months in old oak. 50 dozen produced. pH 3.5, TA 5.1. Oh, you can really see the low acid in this – it’s sticky and black and a bit muted – lots of grainy thickness. Silken but a little less detailed. Super seductive though. 18/20, 93/100. 15.1%
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2020
Hot and dry with low yields. 20% whole bunches. pH 3.5, TA 5.4g/L, 50 dozen produced. There’s a bit of outre blackness to this wine, but it’s also molten and black with a little of the dried tea bitterness of what is clearly small berries. Fascinating about how much more moody and less obvious this is. Pretty involving stuff. 18.5/20, 94/100. 14.5%
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2023
‘From the second coolest vintage we’ve encountered,’ according to Alex. 10% whole bunches. 60 dozen produced. pH 3.5, TA 6.5g/L. A huge step up on the Old Vine Grenache of the same vintage. Way too primary but substantial. Such a tannic step up. Really great if still very red-fruited. Swish. You can really see the acidity in this vintage – it’s much more pointed and modern. Swish is the right word, rather than black. 18.5/20, 94/100+. 14.5%
Head Wines Ancestor Vines Grenache 2024
Mild year with average yields. 60 dozen produced. pH 3.7, TA 5.1g/L. Exuberant and ripe. Hard to pick where this will go as it’s not formed yet. A bit squeaky and purple with less tannic drive. A boysenberry wine and clearly lifted. Maybe not the palate carry yet. Watch this space 18/20, 93/100+. 14.5%
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