Some bright spark once described grenache as an 'earth wine'. This is a great description, and perfectly captures the grape's ability to soak up the flavours of the dirt it's grown in and translate them into a glass. When you come across a good example of grenache, made from old dry-grown, low-yielding vineyards and often blended with its equally earthy, warm-climate cousins such as shiraz, mour-vèdre and carignan, it can evoke the smell of sun-baked soil, ripe fruit and exotic dried herbs. These are all perfect flavours to match earthy, umami-rich mushrooms, the darkness of silverbeet and the spicy high notes of baharat. The deeply savoury tastes in this pie also provide a wonderful stage on which the inherent sweetness at the core of a good grenache can shine. - MAX ALLEN
The spicy notes of this hearty pie complement the inherent sweetness at the core of a good grenache.