Don't forget that Friday is International Grenache Day, as outlined already in Today is ... Grape Day!
Now is the time to plan how you are going to celebrate this excuse to wallow in southern Rhône and Languedoc-Roussillon reds, Spain's best-value bottlings and a wide range of try-harder varietal renditions from places such as Australia.
May I recommend, incidentally, the following South Australian example, with UK stockists appended:
Pertaringa, Two Gentlemens Grenache 2007 McLaren Vale 16.5 Drink 2010-13
Light ruby. Very sweet and rich but very seductive too. Lovely round stuff with a hint of dried grasses. Racy. You'd be happy to find this in Châteauneuf though it may not live as long as the best Rhône reds. Good stuff though! 14.5%
£15-17 Browns of Blakesley (01327 860286), Sandhams Wine Merchants (www.shopping4wine.co.uk), Ann et Vin (www.annetvin.com), Talking Wines (www.talkingwines.co.uk), imported into the UK by Stratford's Wine Agencies (01628 643510)
It is also available in the US (from $27.99) and in Switzerland and New Zealand. (It's good to see that Americans have not given up on Australian wine...) Use the link below to identify stockists.
Find this wine
Or, you could take a look at my many surveys of Châteauneuf and other southern Rhône wines listed here in our lists of Tasting articles by region to find a lovely French example. Use the Find this wine link in the tasting notes to identify stockists in your area.
And if you are in the restaurant business, I hope you have devised some clever way of showcasing this great and under-appreciated grape on Friday.
