RAISING A GLASS TO SPANISH WINES.

A couple of weeks ago, I was at a party and a friend of mine brought a bottle of inexpensive Spanish red, Castillo d’Almansa. In the last decade, this wine has sold for between about $12 and $14. It has never been, nor is it likely to ever become, an expensive wine.

Over that decade, I’ve enjoyed it regularly. I knew it was a good deal and have recommended it any number of times. I had never, however, had a bottle that was cellared for nine years. Bob has built a rough closet in his unheated garage. The closet is heavily insulated and has a small space heater in it. Bob says the temperature varies from about -5 C to 22 C. It is not, by anyone’s reckoning, a perfect cellar.

However, the Castillo d’Almansa was an extraordinary drink. The bouquet was faintly alcoholic, with aromas of plum and black fruit. The bouquet was tremendously fruity — although the wine is bone dry — still with a fresh acidity and the finish lingered beautifully. And best of all, the fairly hard tannins of the grapes had metamorphosed into those smooth long-chain molecules that make old wine so beautiful to drink.

I have no idea why Spanish wines are not more popular here. They deserve to be. It is one of the rare nations that produces vast quantities of wine to quite high standards and sells such wines for inexpensive prices. If you are a score hunter, there are at least two rioja available in the province to which Parker has given scores over 90 around the $20 mark and one of them — Lopez de Haro Reserva 2005 at the Co-op — is under $20. This is the year of the Castillo d’Almansa I was treated to by Bob. A very good in year in Spain.

Let’s start with the wines easily dismissed by aspiring wine snobs. If you are dining out and spot Red Guitar on the menu, look no further. This is a workaday table wine, tilted slightly toward the New World palate. It’s a creation of the Mondavi vintners (hence the dismissal) and is intended to be a drinkable mass-market table wine. It succeeds at this task to a degree that should shame most Californian vintners. Moreover, unlike other popular wines, it doesn’t have to be deeply discounted to maintain popularity.

It’s a blend of tempranillo and Grenache and the latter, as usual, adds a friendly, fruity approachable palate to the wine. Tempranillo tends to a slightly smoky or dusty palate and the great fruit only becomes apparent when the wines age. Red Guitar, according to me and to more than a few of my friends drinking it without knowing, is “the perfect allday sipper.”

If you, like me, can’t do what sensible Bob does — buy a case a year of Castillo d’Almansa and stash it in the basement or garage — then you are stuck buying wines that are already old. Fortunately, the Spanish are equally addicted to old wines and there’s a wine on the SLGA shelves that is well worth hunting out, especially if you can find the 2005 expression.

For the last year, the SLGA has stocked a wine called Anciano Gran Reserva Tempranillo. The first time I came across it was at Christmas parties a year ago. Every cheap wino in town descended on the SLGA like wolves on the fold and the result was a stock out that lasted until the summer. Hopefully the inventory is more stable at the moment.

Last year’s vintage was 2004, which is perfectly acceptable and probably can still stand a couple of years in your basement. This year’s release is the much-soughtafter 2005, so we may again encounter stock shortages.

Hot Tip: If you’re a scotch drinker and bargain lover, you need to either join the Opimian society or find a friend who has. They’re currently selling a 12-yearold blended malt, Cul na Creagan, that is a really nice scotch for about $45. I was treated to a glass in the middle of a Port Ellen tasting and I would have rather had the Opimian. Given the $250 price spread, you can see why I’m more likely to buy the Cul na Creagan.