You say Garnacha, I say Grenache.

Today is International Grenache Day - the first ever. Who knew? Apparently, back in June, a Grenache symposium was held at some French château or another. Co-hosted by British wine writer (and Francophile) Steven Spurrier it was decided, there and then, that September 24th would indeed be a feast day of sorts. It seems only fair seeing as Grenache, one of the component grapes of the venerable wines of Châteauneuf-du-Pape, is said to be the fourth most planted grape variety on the face of the planet.
Well, not needing much prompting, Vinomaker and I decided to imbibe in a glass of Grenache ourselves this evening whilst we feasted. It's still September (Ca. wine month, although I have strayed twice already), so I decided on something domestic - a 2008 'Horse & Plow' Grenache offering from the Alexander Valley. It's nice to get out of Napa once in a while, even if it is only via a wine glass. Whoa Neddy! This wine's got some horse power. At 14.5% alcohol by volume all the soft strawberry flavours and supple tannins that you'd expect to find in a Grenache are gone, maybe they were never there. Yikes! Guaranteed not to improve with age...hate when that happens.
Stateside, September 24th is also National Punctuation Day. You can tell by my run-on sentences and a writing style verging on criminally abusive that I am not celebrating along with the rest of America. (I wonder what these particular revellers are drinking.) I can almost hear my sister, La Serenissima, rolling her eyes across the miles...mixed metaphors permitting.
Sorry sis!