Juan Gil Jumilla: A Red That Packs A Punch For $11.99

Where can you get insane value in wine right now? Anywhere Spanish is spoken -- namely, Argentina, Chile, and, the motherland, Spain. And right now, I am really smitten with Spain.

Rioja is great and Priorat is unbelievable but for ridiculous quality, Southern Spain is a major hot spot. Can some of the reds be over ripe and alcoholic to the point of being like a cordial? Yes. But is that the rule? No. Given the bounty of choice that wine retailers are presented, good shops carry the best of the best and we're all in luck.

Last night we had a wine that I've had before, but hadn't purchased for a while (gross oversight on my part!). It was the Juan Gil from Jumilla (pronounced "who-ME-yah"), Spain and it was unadulterated joy for my palate. Jumilla is an old winemaking region -- wine has been made there since Roman times -- but until recently it's never been known for its stellar quality.

The area rose to general awareness in the 1860s when the Charles Manson of the wine world, a root bug called phylloxera, came (from the U.S.) and mass murdered all the vines of France. The French had no where to get wine in their own country, so they headed over the Pyrenees to Spain, which remained untouched by the serial killing insect. The Frenchies bought wine from all over Spain, and Jumilla had lots to give so the area became a bulk wine supplier.

Unfortunately, this yolk stayed around the region's neck for more than a century. The southern, rural region is not exactly wealthy, so winemakers didn't have coin to invest in their vineyards. They did the best they could and grew grapes en masse, making crappy, highly astringent, highly alcoholic, dark purple wines.

You can't blame the dudes. Without money or new training, you go with tradition and with what mother nature gives you. Jumilla, nestled between the great plain of Castille-La Mancha and the Mediterranean area of Levante, has a sunny, dry climate with feverish summers and bone chilling winters. The area barely gets rain and when it does, it's irregular and can be intense. The soils hold water so the vines can make it through the long drought. In this kind of environment, with so much heat, the grapes can bake, making wines that can be flaccid, alcoholic, and lack nuance. That may be good for bulk wine, but not for wine lovers.

That's how Jumilla rolled up until 1989. In this really bad but really great year, phylloxera finally came to town and killed 60% of all the vines in the region over the next 5 years (like Charles Manson, no?). The growers were devastated, but the door opened to new and better things for them. In the 1990s, instead of replanting in the same way and using the same facilities, growers sought investment and started modernizing their vineyards and wineries. Jumilla has seen a big resurgence and quality wine is the order of the day.

Currently 44 Bodegas (wineries) operate in Jumilla. Most of them make wine for export and most of that wine is red, made from their traditional Monastrell grape, also known as Mourvedre in France. Monastrell is known to be high in tannin (astringency), high in alcohol, and to have a kind of gamey, leather, animal flavor with lots of black fruit to boot.

Because prices are still low for wines from this very rural area, imports represent the best of the best and any wine shop worth its salt carries at least one if not two wines from the area. Probably the most common is Juan Gil, the one I had last night. It's a rich wine and it kicks ass for the price. Here's the rundown:

The Wine: Juan Gil Monastrell
Where It's From: Jumilla, Spain
The Grapes: 100% Monastrell
Vintage: 2008
Price: $11.99

Color: Looks alone had me flashing back to the Passover table at my grandparents' house. Manischewitz-like in color, the wine is purple with a ruby/brownish rim and it's kind of thick and cloudy. Much like it's doppelganger, it stained the glass and the legs were so thick (indication of high alcohol, FYI) the wine had cankles.

Smell: The wine notes from the producer say that they have really low yields for the grapes used for this wine. That usually means very high concentration of flavor, and it is oh-so-apparent in the smell of the dark raspberries wafting from the glass. Also apparent: lots of barrel aging. Those wood-induced smells of coffee, leather, chocolate, and mocha hit me first. There was a little bit of church altar -- like myrrh or frankincense in the background of the wine too but overall, the smell reminded me of a dark chocolate/raspberry cake -- with alcohol. There was so much alcohol in this wine that I sneezed when I took the first sniff. That said the overall impression left my mouth watering for this apparent chocolate dessert.

Taste: If you don't like high alcohol wines, this may not be for you because my first impression was of the burn. At 15% alcohol, it's understandable (most wines are between 12% - 14%), But if you have patience and the alcohol doesn't bug you, the payoff for this wine is scrumptious! It really did taste like a rich chocolate dessert with black raspberry, chocolate, and mocha flavors. What made the wine interesting -- there were leather (like chewing on a belt) notes and a flavor of sweet chewing tobacco too (not that I've had it...). The wine is super full in your mouth and it sticks around for ages. This would not be classified as a shrinking violet!

Food: Rich wine needs rich food. Stews, mushrooms, game, smoked fish, blue cheese, or, as the winery recommends OX, can hold up well to something this big. Next time you have some ox lying around, get a bottle of this stuff...

Drink or Down the Sink?: What a value at $11.99. If you don't like big wines, this isn't for you. But for a cold winter night (if we ever get them, it's still 85 in Atlanta!) with a hearty soup or stew, a big sweater and the heat cranked up, this is a great wine to have. Had it been around in my Boston years, I would have made it a staple -- high alcohol, inexpensive, and hearty to warm your bones! Who could ask for more?

How to Shop For a Wine Similar To This One: I mentioned this earlier, but any wine shop that has a decent selection should carry at least one wine from Jumilla. Look for it in the Spanish section. Most of the wines from Jumilla are 100% Monastrell, but I'd read the fine print to make sure of that as well -- blends may be good too, but they will have different flavors from what I described. Don't forget -- it's pronounced "who-ME-yah." Say it and know how to spell it before you go into the store so you get it right if you have to ask!