I've loved Grenache since my time working at CERN in Geneva in the 1970's when visiting the Rhone and Burgundy wine regions was straightforward. And also because I once won the bottle of champagne for identifying the "mystery wine" at a WSOC tasting as a Gigondas!
I adore Grenache - for all the wonderful reasons that you've mentioned. So, obviously, I adored reading your ode to this wonderful grape in its many forms and bottle shapes. My ex housemate (and always bestie) refused to drink wine...until we found a Blanc de Noir that we both loved. But he could never get on board with red wines...until Grenache (or, as he likes to call it, Ganache...we share a love of chocolate too). And this has become another reason to love the grape - it's ability to appeal to a wide audience.
I love this story! I nearly wrote about a similar story - my own housemate said she liked 'big, bold, intense red wines' and, assuming she meant high intensity tannic and robust wine, I would often bring home Cabernet or big Australian Shiraz from work...
One day I was in Majestic with her and she said that her favourite wines were the Guigal Cotes-du-Rhone and a relatively nondescript Rioja. I realised that she liked full-flavoured fruity reds with Grenache in the blend.
We've enjoyed MANY a bottle of Gigondas since then, and everyone is very happy :)
I've loved Grenache since my time working at CERN in Geneva in the 1970's when visiting the Rhone and Burgundy wine regions was straightforward. And also because I once won the bottle of champagne for identifying the "mystery wine" at a WSOC tasting as a Gigondas!
I adore Grenache - for all the wonderful reasons that you've mentioned. So, obviously, I adored reading your ode to this wonderful grape in its many forms and bottle shapes. My ex housemate (and always bestie) refused to drink wine...until we found a Blanc de Noir that we both loved. But he could never get on board with red wines...until Grenache (or, as he likes to call it, Ganache...we share a love of chocolate too). And this has become another reason to love the grape - it's ability to appeal to a wide audience.
I love this story! I nearly wrote about a similar story - my own housemate said she liked 'big, bold, intense red wines' and, assuming she meant high intensity tannic and robust wine, I would often bring home Cabernet or big Australian Shiraz from work...
One day I was in Majestic with her and she said that her favourite wines were the Guigal Cotes-du-Rhone and a relatively nondescript Rioja. I realised that she liked full-flavoured fruity reds with Grenache in the blend.
We've enjoyed MANY a bottle of Gigondas since then, and everyone is very happy :)