2008 Monasterio De Las Vinas Garnacha/Syrah Blend – $7

Okay, we outdid ourselves this time.  We found another wine from the Cariñena region of Spain that is a ridiculous steal.  This 70% Garnacha 30% Syrah blend – aged 3 months in American oak – has a nose of strawberry and raspberry jam.  On the palate you get orange, raspberry and a little spicy pepper, with a finish that lasts and lasts!

It’s great with ribs and pizza and comes in at 13% alcohol.  It also scored an amazing 91 points with the Wine Enthusiast. You really need to buy this one by the case!

Sourced from a single vineyard, the “Monasterio de San Jose”, where for centuries monks produced wine. Nowadays, this is a large production wine made for the American market, but they really got it right. The Quality-Price Ratio (QPR) is off the charts for this one.

2008 Big Woop Red Wine $13

A full one liter bottle, makes this Grenache, Shiraz and  Petit Verdot Red blend a Big Woop. Ben Riggs is the winemaker and he also makes our favorite $8 Red Wine, Woop Woop Shiraz. Sourced from McLaren Vale, Riverland and the Limestone Coast of Australia, with a 14.5% alcohol content.

The color is a deep dark red with crimson highlights. The nose is unexpected, pencil shavings, cedar moth balls, light menthol, leather and red fruit. What’s going on with cheap wine, all these aromas used to be the exclusive right of the expensive stuff. The mouth feel is very full, a bit of an explosion of taste. The flavor is ripe dark fruit with a dose of the Shiraz spice at the end. Nice long finish of raspberry iced tea.

The Big Woop Red Blend is a tasty little wine. You don’t expect a whole bunch from something called Big Woop, but this wine delivers beyond expectations.

2008 Agostón Garnacha Syrah – $10

OK first of all you know our stance on wine with cute little critters on the label (we’re looking at you Yellow Tail, Long Neck & Tall Horse). Yeah usually horrible! But a wild boar isn’t exactly cute, plus a friend is really pushing for us to review Little Penguin Shiraz, so we might as well start somewhere.

This 60% Garnacha, 40% Syrah screw top blend hails from the Cariñena region of Spain which aside from giving the Carignan grape its name is right next to Calatayud in the shadows of the Ibérico mountain range. It gets its name from the wild boars that would sneak down into the vineyards at night to feast upon the grapes like – well, pigs.

It’s a light bodied, see-through crimson in the glass and noses like the black currant iced tea you get at Egg Harbor or Maggiano’s. A sip gets you raspberry and black cherry that fades into a nice wild herb and cocoa finish. It’s juicy and relaxed even at 13.5% alcohol.

This wine is like Lucky Charms, it’s magically delicious. Drink it all by itself to see what I’m talking about or drink it down with grilled steak skewers, Firecracker Shrimp or the Buffalo Wild Wings #4.

2008 Cotes Du Rhone Signargues La Granacha – $13

I was wandering thru the wine shop looking for a bottle to purchase, nothing on sale interested me.  I saw a Granacha (why the Spanish spelling for a French wine, I don’t know) from the Cotes du Rhone, I checked the back label and saw that it was imported by Eric Solomon, that was a good sign. I have had good luck with Eric Solomon wines, he has a knack with finding good “off the beaten path”wines.

I hit the internet to find a bit of information and found this is sourced from 80 year old Grenache vines from the Signargues region of the Rhone Valley. Organic and sustainable farming, unfiltered and unfined (that means they do nothing to get solids out of the wine). Half the wine sees 6 months in French oak, the other half aged in stain-less steel vats. The Signargues is not a well known wine area, so the wines do not command a high price. The 2007 vintage got 91 point in Wine Spectator.

Opaque purple with a contrasting red halo. The nose is French funk, black  licorice, the smell of coloring Easter eggs and raspberry jam. The taste is bright fresh fruit mixed with jammy fruit, blackberries and blueberries with a late splash of spice in the back of your mouth, a bit of acidity can be felt on the tongue. The finish is chocolate milk, berries and a touch of spice. A well structured wine, not just a ton of fruit, layered and nuanced. This is a versatile wine that can be paired with many different dishes and still be a good back porch sipper.

2008 Bitch Grenache – $9

You have probably seen this in the wine shop and thought, “With a name like that it can’t possibly be any good.” But you would be wrong, it’s actually a nice little Grenache. The back of the label is funny, they printed the word “bitch” 68 times in a row, then added, “ and bitch some more” for a total of 69 bitches. No other information other than what is required by law. Sourced from the Ebenezer region of the Barossa Valley in South Australia and made in a “drink it now” style. so it sees no oak. The alcohol content is 15.5% and in Australia the posted alcohol content has to be within 1.5% of the actual alcohol content, so it could possibly be 17% alcohol. The 2006 vintage of this wine got 90 points in Wine Spectator.

The color is a see thru cranberry red with orange highlights. The nose is fruit, but not fresh fruit, more like a bag of pungent fruit flavored hard candy. The mouth feel is light and oily, the flavors stick to the parts of your mouth the wine hits. It tastes of candied fruit, with spice reacting with your tongue. The finish is cherry Dr. Pepper, the finish lasts a long time, but the intensity fades fast. There are two main flavors competing for your attention, the sweet candied fruit and hot cinnamon spice, think strawberry Jolly Rancher followed by an Altoids. This may not be a wine you would want to pair with dinner, it would be better served with dessert or skip the food altogether and have it after dinner

2008 Bodegas Borsao Tres Picos Garnacha – $16

Grenache is THE GRAPE of Côtes du Rhône and Châteauneuf-du-Pape – you know – the Rhone blends. It’s a grape that gets you lightly colored, soft yet FULL wines chock full of strawberry and raspberry. While not particularly rich or complex, Grenache is one of the world’s most widely-planted grapes, and it gives up a unique character wherever it’s planted.

Well, in the up-by-Rioja “Campo de Borja” region (no, not Victor Borge, he was the Great Dane, not the Great Spaniard) of Spain (well, all of Spain), it’s known as Garnacha. This one from Borsao’s Three Peaks (Tres Picos) is deep violet in the glass, insanely smoky in a good way – like someone lit a Cohiba full of black pepper and flowers dipped in Indian spices right next to you.

Taking a sip (or nibbling on Jillian Michael’s shoulders), you get awesome body in your mouth (apologies to Jillian, had to give Megan Fox a break). Blackberry, raspberry and strawberry give way to a long silky finish of cocoa. I have no doubt this thing would be $50 if it came from France and was called Grenache.

Drink by itself or with turkey chili or pork chops.