The oversaturation of something special is soul-crushing, and this is the plight of Grenache. Its ubiquity (456,000 acres planted worldwide) has led to its perceived banality. The assumption is that Grenache is solid. Solid like a grocery store. Solid like it checks boxes, but doesn’t push buttons or pull levers. Solid like doesn’t surprise you or insult you or stimulate you. Easy, friendly, not gonna complain. But some are more than just solid, which we must not forget. Drinking your first profound Priorat (a Spanish Grenache-based blend) is like going to your first good Asian market. Familiar setting: there are aisles, checkout lines, and a butcher counter, but everything else is barely recognizable. Where there should be one type of microwaveable ramen there are seventy types. Where there should be Wheat Thins there are “Shrimp Chips.” Where there should be tilapia filets there’s a whole Monkfish. Have you ever seen a f*cking Monkfish?! (if not check the backside of these tasting notes) Now this is a store! And it’s the same with the Priorat, a surprise around every corner. Now this is a Grenache! Through this exploration of Grenache and grocery stores you can discover that what should be banal can be paradigm shifting. And for what else is life worth living? Your Truth and Beauty aren’t in that transcendent New Age novel you’re reading, they’re at your seemingly boring corner store and in your seemingly derpy glass of Grenache. In that spirit, let us enjoy these four Grenaches from four different places. They might make us think, and if they don’t, they’ll at least get us drunk.

Join us at the bar for #winowednesday tastings! 1-3 at the bar, cheers!