Garagiste Le Stagiaire Grenache Blanc 2025

A stint at Ogier in Côte-Rôtie left Barney Flanders with a lasting affinity for Rhône Valley wines and, importantly, a thirst for Grenache in all its guises. After years of polite nagging, in 2024, Barney succeeded in securing a small parcel of Grenache Blanc from the Rathjen family in Colbinabbin, Heathcote. Ian and Lynne Rathjen are fourth-generation farmers and vignerons who have farmed their ancient Cambrian soils since the 1850s.

The vines face southeast and are now 10 years old, rooted in red dirt soils that lie over a layer of limestone. The Rathjens keep yields low across the board, so Barney’s parcel was just a couple of tonnes. As with all the Garagiste wines, the goal is to balance fine mouthfeel with freshness. To that end, the fruit was picked at 12-12.5% potential alcohol and pressed as bunches to seasoned 500-litre puncheons.

Though new to the variety, Barney has taken to Grenache Blanc like a duck to water. “I was constantly checking it to see how it was developing,” he told us, “It’s really delicate and perfumed with lovely texture and salinity. It’s pretty cool.”