Matt Parish Montierrasant Spain Garnacha 2018 as Kate Winslet as Iris in The Holiday

I rummaged through my pantry to find something to make for dinner. It’s Saturday, so I’ve run out of fresh food and have consequently settled on pasta and jarred sauce. Not totally inventive but we work with what we’ve got!

I opened up a bottle of red because I like to add a little splash to my pasta sauces for some kick and because also, Saturday. This particular bottle has some explaining to do. The grape varietal is Garnacha, which is the exact same grape as Grenache, except from Spain! Grenache is one of my favorites – light, warm, unassuming, fruity, and a wonderful supporting actor. It’s often blended in with other grapes to add that certain je ne sais quois, or in this case we do know, because it adds body. You also might recognize it from being the prime grape for rose.

Imagine my surprise to open up this bottle of Garnacha, expecting a supporting actor and finding a lead. Maybe it’s the warmer climate of Spain or some of the choices the winemaker made with oak, but this wine is hearty and bold. It has the dark red fruit like sweet cherries and maybe even some plum and blackberry. It is round and rich with a medium finish and shines with lower tannin structure. There might even be some chocolate in there. This makes the wine feel really smooth. You can tell when a wine is smooth by a simple trick – did you drink your glass in half the time you normally do? Smooth.

That’s why this wine is Kate Winslet as Iris in The Holiday. You think you’re opening up Iris at the beginning of the movie – sweet, thoughtful, and supporting. But what you’re getting is Iris after she discovers she has gumption. Arthur so sweetly asks her, “why are you willing to play the best friend in your own life?” This wine is no best friend, it’s a leading lady. And much like the move, give it 30 minutes to open up for it to really shine.

Diving deeper into the producer, he usually does big Napa cabs and that’s helping this wine make a lot more sense to me. Normally I would pair Garnacha with something a little lighter but this one can handle bigger flavors. Any red meat, red-sauce pastas, and cheeses with some gumption like goat cheese or manchego (aged). So take a holiday in Spain and open this up the next time you want to impress a guest by telling them this is the same grape as Grenache, just from a different place.