The high tables and chairs gave the room an amphitheater feel with the performance happening in the pit. Promptly at 9pm we were ushered into a medium sized room, which was intimately set for about 30 people with surrounding what would be the performance floor. Attendees mingled casually in the comfortable bar which was surprisingly uncrowded for a Friday night. The affair had a very New York City, metropolitan vibe with a sophisticated, well dressed crowd, and 9pm start. There is also a white version, grenache blanc, generally grown in the same regions that cultivate red grenache.Recently I was lucky enough to attend a Flamenco wine dinner, a quarterly event at Bocado, Worcester. In addition to red wines, grenache is particularly well-suited to the production of rosé. In Sardinia, grenache is called cannonau and is widely used. Once a standby for California jug wines, it has more recently been adopted by the 'Rhône Rangers' of that state, and it has also done well in Washington State.

In Australia, it was the number-one red variety until the mid-20th century (when shiraz and cabernet sauvignon overtook it), it is used increasingly in so-called GSM blends (with syrah and mourvèdre). In France, it is the major red variety in the southern Rhône and the Languedoc-Roussillon, and has a major presence in Provence. Believed to be of Spanish origin, the grape is popular in Spain, where it is called garnacha or garnacha tinta and found in various parts of Catalonia (including Priorat, where it is the main traditional red grape) and in Rioja, Campo de Borja, Cariñena, La Mancha, the region of Madrid, and elsewhere. (Exact figures are difficult to come by, but it is apparently either the third or fourth most widely cultivated red-wine grape, after cabernet sauvignon, merlot, and possibly tempranillo.) While the wines it produces are generally lighter than those made from syrah or mourvèdre, they are typically fruit and intense in flavor. In addition to the world-renowned red wines of Rioja, Priorat, and Ribera del Duero and the increasingly popular whites of Rías Baixas, the cavas (sparkling wines) of Catalonia, and the nonpareil apéritif and dessert wines of the Jerez, or sherry, region, first-rate wines in every style and at every price range are produced in such places as Calatayud, Campo de Borja, Somontano, Cariñena, Bierzo, Cigales, Toro, Empordà, the region of Madrid, Utiel-Requena, Ribeira Sacra, Ribeiro, Valdeorras, various parts of the Balearic and Canary islands, and many more.Īn extremely versatile variety, planted all over the world. Every important international variety - cabernet sauvignon, pinot noir, syrah, chardonnay, sauvignon blanc, riesling, etc., etc., is also grown.

Other important red wine grapes include garnacha (grenache) and monastrell (mourvèdre), both believed to be of Spanish origin white grapes include albariño, palomino (used in sherry), and parellada and xarel-lo (essential to Catalonia's cava). Tempranillo leads the red grape plantings, airén (used mostly for bulk wine and brandy distillation) the white.

There are said to be more than 400 grape varieties planted around the country, a good number of them native to Spain.

Spain is the third-largest wine-producing nation in the world, after France and Italy, with about 3 million acres planted to vines (this is more than any other country, but low yields in some areas reduce the total amount of wine that may be produced).

Lechuza garnacha