You'll miss no work, and the kids will still head off to school. There'll be no moment of silence, nor office parties, nor gifts exchanged. Nonetheless today, Sept. 21, is a holiday. It's Grenache Day, fool — that one day of the year on which highly privileged people all over the world who happen to give a hoot gather, in body or in spirit, to celebrate this “velvety, voluptuous” grape.

Since — well, last year — grenache aficionados have settled on the third Friday in September as the official day. People gush over pinot's aromatics in the line at Whole Foods. Who doesn't prize cabernet sauvignon's tannins? Yet, while the rest of us work, eat, and generally attend to our Friday necessities, a plucky few will stand strong for an under-appreciated grape.

On its own, grenache is a bit much — kind of like your aunt's maraschino lipstick — but in blends, the grape is an capable player, shoring up the good (and the merely chuggable) stuff from the South of France to Spain to California.

Today, led by Bonny Doon chief Randall Grahm — a supreme, wine-y wit — the Rhone Rangers organization will host regional Grenache Day parties as nearby as Paso Robles, as well as a live Twitter tasting from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.

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