2009 Monte La Sarda, Garnacha Viñas Viejas, Aragon, Spain (£7.49, reduced to £5.99 by the case, Oddbins – due in store in the middle of December). Most of the really old Grenache vines in the world are not found where you’d think they might reside, in the Southern Rhône, 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 source of fruit, which keeps its head well below the parapet, is Spain. This wine, from Aragon, uses the concentrated, noble vines to great effect. Unfortunately, Viñas 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. So imagine my unabashed glee when I devoured a hefty tasting sample of this particular venerable, old vine Garnacha 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 Châteauneuf, 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?
