Hats off to Whole Foods for their occasional wine specials, and one thing I've noticed is their focus on the Iberian peninsula. One recent special is the Castano Monastrell '06. On sale for $7.99, it is from the Yecla region of Spain. The what region? Exactly.
There was even a denominacion de origen label on the bottle..a Yecla D.O. Sounds interesting..hmmm. Anyway, I generally find more obscure regions tend to charge less for the wine. When was the last time you had a great bottle of Burgundy or Bordeaux for under $20? Tell me about it so I can find one myself.
I did some digging around, and I found a couple pages on Yecla saying it was in the eastern part of Spain, but that didn't tell me much. I finally figured out it was somewhere south of Valencia. Hmm...interesting. I didn't realize they grew grapes there. The varietal was Monastrell. Mona what?
Anyway, it's a heckuva bargain for a red, and I wouldn't hesitate to bring it to a party. The bottle is appealing, and it shares a lot of characteristics of the thicker-medium bodied Spanish reds such as Rioja, Pendes, and Navarra. Not quite as tannic and tongue-trying as a garnacha, the wine has characteristics of black currant, black cherries, a bit of licorice, a bit of spice, and of course that good old earthiness that Spanish wines are known for.
Leave the supermarket Syrah at home, and bring something your guests may enjoy for the same price.
Monastrell Castano '06
Whole Foods
Which whole foods did you find this at? I just checked the one near Chicago ave and they didnt have it.....
Posted by: j0emv | January 23, 2008 at 10:49 AM
Nevermind, I found it at the Lakeview store.. yay, thanks!
Posted by: j0emv | January 23, 2008 at 07:36 PM
I discovered this wine two years ago -- the 05 for some reason seemed superior to the o6. I have no idea why -- haven't researched weather during those years in that region. But I used to get the 05 at Wine Discount Center on Elston for 5bucks! I'm a real cheap bastard, so this was like heaven. Eventually they got discovered and snapped up.
I think the 06s were going for 6.99 or less at Wine Discount Center. I'm sure other places carry it... I know Randolph Wine Tasting Room on Randolph and Ogden had it when I was looking for rioja, maybe two months ago. BTW - go there on half-price glass night - Monday night? - and get one of the regional cheese flights. Probably little deep into the city for some of you, but I live in West Pilsen so it's practically a neighborhood joint.
Posted by: yosephus | February 06, 2008 at 01:40 PM
Thanks Yosephus for the tip. I'm usually out of town durning the week but I'll try to head out to Randolph Wine Tasting Room next week when I'm (finally) actually in town...
Posted by: Brian | February 11, 2008 at 09:01 PM
Terrific work! This is the type of information that should be shared around the web. Shame on the search engines for not positioning this post higher!
Posted by: Susan Graham | October 18, 2010 at 04:29 AM
I did not discuss that particular issue!!
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