4 QPR Bargains from Spain

It’s been quite a while since I’ve done a Best Buys update, and… say, didn’t I say that the LAST time I updated this page?! Well, it’s even more true now that it’s getting harder all the time to find a solid red for under $10. Of course, the usual suspects are still around, some of which can be found in our periodic Côtes du Rhône-downs.  And we still love the Rancho Zabaco Heritage Vines Zinfandel, but the ’99 version is also noted in another feature on these pages. However, we recently ran across some new things that we found most interesting.

I received an email from my friends over at Cloverleaf Fine Wine and Spirits in Southfield, MI not long ago, informing me of some new wines from Spain that had arrived. The message included some impressive ratings given by the Wine Advocate, which some might take with a grain of salt, making it somewhat...

...salty! Haha!!

Still, I was intrigued enough to go in and pick up a bottle of each, and what we found was very pleasant indeed.

2000 Finca Luzon Merlot, 85% Merlot and 15% Monastrell (Mourvedre), $9.99, 13.5% alc.: Dark garnet, with a faintly floral nose of chocolate, plum, blackberry, a little vanilla and the slightest touch of tar and bell pepper peeking out occasionally. Flavors echo nicely, and this isn’t too tannic to crack one open tonight to have with almost anything you’d pair with a full bodied dry red. It has good acidity, a reasonably long, somewhat earthy finish; it’s an excellent value for the money and should only improve over the next three to five years. Made from 18-year-old Merlot vines with yields of 1.6 tons per acre and 45 year old Monastrell vines yielding 1.25 tons per acre.

2000 Vina Alarba Old Vines Grenache, $7.99, 13.5% alc.: Dark garnet, with exuberant scents of blackberry, black cherry, licorice and tar, and less flashy, but still appealing flavors of more straight-ahead blackberry and black cherry. An unabashed drink-me-now kind of wine, with soft tannins and zippy acidity, think burgers, pizza, BBQ, spaghetti or anything else in that general neighborhood, and you have a perfect match for this wine. It finishes longer than you might have a right to expect from something at this price point; Kim actually preferred it to the 2000 Finca Luzon Merlot, which we tried on the same night. From vineyards in Aragón, in north-central Spain that are "a minimum of 50 years old."  This one will take some of the sting out of Wine Probation ©!

2000 Casa Castillo Jumilla Monastrell, 85% Mourvedre and 15% Syrah, $9.99, 13.5% alc.: Pinky-purple dark garnet, with a sub-dude nose of dusty, indistinct black fruit; the flavors pick it up nicely however, with earthy plum, chocolate and a hint of coffee that turns a little stemmy on the finish, due to more than moderate tannins. With good acidity and a smooth mouthfeel, this is a good glass of wine now, and will get even better with a few years in the cellar. From vineyards yielding 1 to 1.25 tons per acre, the fruit saw malolactic fermentation with four months in new French and American oak.

1999 Castaño Solanera Viñas Viejas of Monastrell, 65% Mourvedre and 35% Cabernet Sauvignon, $13.99, 13.5% alc.: From the Yecla region of southeastern Spain, this inky dark garnet was aged 10 months in oak before bottling. It shows in the faintly floral flavors and aromas, which exhibit creamy plum, blackberry and mineral character; and like the Casa Castillo, turns just a bit stemmy on the finish, due to a fair amount of tannins. It has good acidity and all the makings for an very fine wine indeed five years or so down the line, and yet it’s already more than approachable. While it may not be fair to compare this with the Casa Castillo, due to different vintages, regional origin and varietal makeup, we did so anyway, and it must be stated that in our opinion, this is the better of the two wines. And while this costs us a little more than $10 with a case discount, it can be had in some areas for less. Even at the price listed above, we feel that it’s a solid value.

All four of these wines show excellent QPR (quality-price ratio), and will find some space in the notorious "cellar from hell." As for the WA ratings, you’ll have to swing for a subscription to find out what those are yourself.

There are no "house" white wines to tell you about at this time; we’ve been drinking reds almost exclusively during the winter. We hope to have an update in that area come springtime. In the meantime, don’t forget Rule # 1 of Bastardo’s Rules of Wine Acquisition.

ALWAYS buy by the case! };^)>

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