grapez wicked good wine #3Las Rocas de San Alejandro Garnacha 2002

Across the border in New Hampshire there’s a state liquor store on I-95. Yes, that’s right, you heard me right, the liquor store is much like a rest stop on an interstate. In fact, it is a rest stop, but first in the hearts of many travelers it’s a liquor store, with great deals on hard liquor, but more importantly I think, wine. Fellow citizens from the great state of Massachusetts flock to this establishment and stock up on their favorite elixirs, return to their cars, and turn at the next exit for a fifty cent toll to return to their homes with their almost tax-free bounty.

To me, it’s like a visit to a bookstore. I grab a basket and start browsing the aisles for values. Every day there's around a hundred wines on sale from a selection that must register near a thousand. I can literally spend an hour looking at the various exquisite labels, checking out the discounts, and investigating the advertisements that declare this particular wine was rated this astonishing score by this highly regarded wine journal. I know it’s hype, but it’s led me in more right directions than wrong.

Last Sunday while Beverly waited in the car reading her book (she told me to take my time: mistake) I picked up a shopping basket and went hunting for 7 bottles of wine. My wine rack holds eight and I was determined to find the lone pinot noir caught in one of its lower collars some fine companions. I found a Rhone that I like and will mention at some later date by name, a Chianti on sale that I never had tasted and thought was worth the risk at such a good deal, and a brand name Merlot (Kendall Jackson) that I had never tried before.

I was over in the Australian wines waiting for a Shiraz to beckon to my sense of economy when I overheard some people behind me talking about a Grenache that had been highly rated by I couldn’t hear the name. They were looking in the Spanish wines, and one of the party (2 couples) would grab an inexpensive bottle and ask if that was the recently reviewed title, while one of the women would groan out a no, and the close inspection would start all over again. To no avail: they left to look for a Chardonnay I think.

Meanwhile, no Shiraz called out to me, so I continued to that same Spanish quarter to begin looking for a wicked good bargain, because I have found that’s where the best deals are. I’m not sure why, but you can often find good wine for five bucks (well, maybe seven) more often than not there, and that my friends is an astonishing bang for the buck. There was a Borsao discounted, a great wine for the price but one that I drank one too many times I fear.

I decided to postpone my Spanish inquisition and turned to enter the Cabernet causeway when I ran into a small aisle display of Parker-rated wines (Robert Parker, the wine expert, not the mystery writer, although in some ways they dabble in the same realm of the mysterious.) And there on that display, as big as the Hollywood sign to my well-trained senses, a card read the following: “Rated 91 by Robert Parker who writes ‘may be the greatest wine value I have ever tasted.’” Yikes! Did someone say value? The gang of four were gone so I couldn’t whistle them over, but I thanked them in my prayers and grabbed a bottle.

As I walked out with my seven wines safely packed in a Ruffino Riserva Ducale box (I was so excited, the wine of Tony Soprano and a great chianti to boot, a collectors item for this wine afficianado because I’ll never pay $300 for a case), my only regret was that I bought but one bottle of the Las Rocas. What if it is really that good, I thought, as I walked out to the car and prepared a weak apology to Bevery (well you said to take my time.)

Well, I have a glass here by the monitor and let me unequivocally state it’s really good. Unlike other Garnachas I’ve tasted (Grenache is the French my friends) this one is not too bold, and there’s a nice hint of oak in the aftertaste (obviously something I like if I like the Riserva Ducale) but an aftertaste that follows a refreshing clean and light fruity overture. After time, the combination builds to a velvet underground. I’m going to get me another bottle or 3 this weekend. Thanks Mr. Parker.

*3/21 typos corrected: (garnacha not granacha) (I95 not I93)

Previous grapez wicked good wines:
gwgw #2: Columbia Crest 'Grand Estates' Merlot
gwgw #1: Monte Antico