Oh, Michael Cramer.  Do you fondly rememeber when I claimed to not like Grenache for the longest time?  And how you used to open bottle after bottle to try to change my mind?  Tres Picos was the turning point- I finally acquiesced and admitted it was pretty rockin’.  Truth it, I liked it long before then, I just thought it was funny to let you keep trying wholeheartedly to change my mind.  Interestingly enough, this Atteca Grenache is imported by the same dude who imports the Tres Picos Grenache.  He certainly knows what he’s doing, because this wine rocks!

Which brings me to the latest installment in my love of reasonably priced Grenache.  Many of the Cellar on Greene/Mr. Friendly’s regulars know about the G3 Grenache and how fantastic it is.  It’s been one of our top selling wines since we opened.  WELL, let me just say… I think the Atteca may have it beat by just a hair.  I know!  It’s a bold statement for those of you who love the G3.  But please, come down to the wine sale on Saturday, try the Atteca for yourself, and let me know what you think!  I’ll be there with bells on, pushing this stuff on you. 

Deep purple in color, the word “exotic” definitely comes to mind when I first stick my nose in the glass.  I get a little smokiness, plums, black cherries, a little wood and pencil lead (which doesn’t SOUND particularly appetizing, but it’s one of my favorite things to taste in a wine), and a little bit of mocha and maybe cinnamon.  It would be PERFECT with some kind of grilled meat, or maybe a burger. 

Since it’s becoming somewhat of a trademark, I am trying to think of a celebrity to compare my friend Atteca to… spicy, handsome but not flashy or polished… a little wild, maybe with some “bad boy” attitude (yes, please!)… I’m thinking Benicio del Toro.  He’s pretty hot in that untamed way.  And he’s COOL.  This is a cool wine.  You will look cool drinking it.  I know I do. 

WINE SALE.  SATURDAY.  Be there or be square!  Atteca and I will be waiting for you.  We’ll be selling this somewhere in the neighborhood of $14 or $15 dollas.  It just came in, so I’m not definitive on the price yet.  We hope to see you Saturday!