2009 Monte La Sarda, Garnacha Vias Viejas, Aragon, Spain (£7.49, reduced to £5.99 by the case, Oddbins should be in store first week of December).
Most of the really old grenache vines in the world are not found where you'd think, in the Southern Rhne, but in the Barossa Valley, in South Australia, or in the Roussillon at the western, less salubrious end of the French Riviera. But another goldmine for this iconic fruit is Spain.
This wine, from Aragon, uses the concentrated, noble vines to great effect. Unfortunately, Vias Viejas, Vieilles Vignes or Old Vines, depending on your lingo, are often responsible for bottles of wine that cost the earth and need a decade to age before they are ready to approach.
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So imagine my unabashed glee when I devoured a hefty tasting sample of this particular wine and nearly spluttered it all up again when I caught sight of the price on my Oddbins Winter Press Tasting Booklet.
No oak is used here, which must save a few quid, but otherwise you are treated to spectacular, authentic, raspberry and sweet rolling tobacco notes just as you would be on the nose of a mighty Chteauneuf, but the sleek, lingerie-smooth palate makes you beg for more and it's virtually free and drinking right now. What are you waiting for?
Matthew Jukes is a winner of the International Wine & Spirit Competition's Communicator of the Year ( www.matthewjukes.com ).
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