Disclaimer: Spain has, by far, the best wine values in the world.

Remember what I said about Jorge Ordonez? No?  Well read up on him here on my post dedicated to his wine.  He’s a legendary wine importer and the 2009 Bodegas Volver Tempranillo is probably his best value ever.  Call me a fanboy.  Go ahead.  Jorge Ordonez is to me what Steve Jobs is to Apple fanatics.

I’ve had this wine for the last three vintages and the 2009 is the best yet.  Volver routinely scores 90 points but this year Robert Parker gave it 92 points saying “I would unquestionably drink as a house wine.”  Parker doesn’t review Spanish wines anymore, but he had this and thought it was so good that he wrote it up in his quarterly publication.  Need a back-up rating? Tanzer gave it 90+ points which is pretty much epic (he’s tough) for a $12 wine.

This wine pours an opaque purple/black and is incredibly polished.  It’s made in a modern style, with ripe flavors and sweet oak, but it’s not obnoxious or over the top.  I would love to do a blind tasting with this wine and a bottle of Numanthia Termes (also a Tempranillo), which is one of my favorites.  My guess is it would be a toss up – and Volver is half the price.  What’s more, as good as this wine is now, I would expect it to get better with a couple of years of bottle age – a perfect argument for buying a whole case.  I’ll be trying that one out on my wife.

According to Wine Searcher (the industry standard in wine price benchmarking), LA Wine Co. has everyone else beat by a full dollar.

Buy Here: 2009 Bodegas Volver Tempranillo 11.95

Robert Parker 92 points

“We next moved to a great value that I would unquestionably drink as a house wine, the 2009 Volver from La Mancha. Made from 50-year old Tempranillo vines, it sells for an astonishing $16-$17 a bottle.”

International Wine Cellar 90+ points

“($16) (100% tempranillo): Bright purple. Dark berries, cherry pit, licorice and tobacco on the nose. Slowly unfolds to offer sappy cassis and bitter cherry flavors lifted by tangy acidity and complicated by a peppery, spicy quality. Finishes gripping and long, with resonating cherry and spice notes. Give this some aeration or a couple more years of bottle age. “

From now on, the following note goes at the top of every Spanish wine post.  Disclaimer: Spain has, by far, the best wine values in the world.

Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about the latest value.  Any Rioja under $10 is likely a good deal, since Rioja is arguably the most prestigious region in Spain.  So when I came across this 88 pointer for $9.95, I had to try it.  What’s the worst that could happen?  I’m out $10?  Well, for me, not quite actually.  You see every wine I drink has an opportunity cost.  What’s the opportunity?  A better wine of course.  I can only drink so much wine and could never hope to taste every wine in the world, so a crappy bottle isn’t just a waste of money, it’s a waste of the experience of drinking another, better wine. (Cue wife’s rolling of the eyes).

Luckily tonight it was both money and opportunity well spent with the 2010 Luberri Joven Orlegi – a wine clearly not named for the US market.  This is an unoaked wine so it relies completely on the quality of its fruit for its flavor.  Those flavors are bright, fruity and polished with beautiful Tempranillo aromas.  It’s not sweet, a common flaw with low priced wines that don’t have the tannic structure to support the sugar.  Rather this wine is balanced with nice mineral flavors, if slightly on the lighter side.

Robert Parker’s Wine Advocate calls the 2010 Orlegi an outstanding value and I couldn’t agree more.  The only opportunity cost with this wine is the cost of missing the opportunity to buy it.

Buy Here: 2010 Luberri Rioja Joven Orlegi $9.95

Wine Advocate 88 Points

“The 2010 Orlegy is an unoaked cuvee fermented with native yeasts. It is a very perfumed effort with plenty of spice and black fruit characteristics. Savory, ripe, and easygoing, this tasty effort will provide enjoyment for another 4-5 years.

Luberri is located in El Ciego in the heart of Rioja Alavesa. The estate consists of 35 hectares of old vines. All three wines presented (100% Tempranillo) are excellent to outstanding values.”

It’s wines like this that make me ask why I spend $30+ on a single bottle.  I try two to three new wines every week.  Because of the research I put in before purchasing, I’m often (but not always) impressed by the value those wines deliver.  Occasionally, I am totally blown away by what I’m drinking.  This is one of those wines.

I literally can’t wrap my head around how, financially, a wine this good can be made.  The grapes are grown nearly 6000 miles away in a country where, despite their unstable economy, the exchange rate isn’t exactly favorable for us ‘mericans.  Sure Spain has more acres under vine than any other country, but they still have to grow, harvest, ferment, age, bottle, transport and sell each bottle of wine.  Doing that for a wine that tastes this good, and selling it for $11 frankly makes no sense to me.  But I’m not getting too upset by it.

I’ve had Tempranillo approaching 4 times this price that didn’t have the vibrant nose, depth and texture of this wine.  It’s complemented, but not obscured by oak and has a finish that goes on and on.  Sound like a high-end wine?  It tastes like one too…

Buy Here: 2007 Venta Mazzaron $10.95

Stephen Tanzer’s International Wine Cellar 90 points

“($15; 100% tempranillo) Inky purple. Sexy, high-pitched aromas of black raspberry, licorice, flowers and Moroccan spices. Juicy and mineral-driven, featuring a fine-grained texture and very good intensity to the red fruit and floral flavors. There’s an element of finesse here that’s rare to find in a wine at double the price. Leaves sweet fruit and spice notes behind a long, sappy finish.”

Maybe it’s the euro to dollar exchange rate or just a few great vintages in a row, but Spain is coming out with some absolutely staggering bargains.  In reality, I think that Spain, more than any other European country, is starting to use modern, dare I say American, winemaking techniques that result in high quality, rich but approachable wines from vineyards that have been around for hundreds of years.

Here’s another theory beginning with a question: Which country has the most acreage of vineyards planted?  With over 2.7 million acres, Spain has nearly three times the acreage of the good ole’ US of A according to the Wine Institute.  So naturally Spain would have ample opportunity for ambitious winemakers to choose great grapes from underutilized vineyards to produce so many fantastic values.

Take a look at these bullets from my tasting notes and ask yourself if you are reading about a $12 wine or a $30-50 wine.

The 2009 Montebuena Rioja  is about as good as it gets for the price. Seriously.  It’s good.  As I’ve said before, some of the best values in the world are coming out of Spain and this Rioja is another in a line of Granache, Tempranillo, Carinena and Syrah based wines from España to over deliver.  In the last year in particular, the euro has been week vs. the dollar, further contributing to the value of these wines.

This wine pours a beautiful, slightly translucent red and puts off beautiful aromas of earth, cedar and raspberry.  It’s particularly polished with bright flavors of pomegranate, superb depth and outrageous balance for a wine in this price range.  This Tempranillo also displays surprising concentration gained from the old vines (up to 90 years) from which it was picked.  If it sounds like I’m describing a $25 dollar wine, it’s because that’s how good this wine really is.

90 year old vines

The 2009 Montebuena is proprietary grown and bottled, unlike many wines in Spain and the rest of Europe which are grown through co-ops.  In a co-op setup, farmers grow grapes and sell their crop to the local co-op, who then works with vintners who actually make the wine.  Some great wine is produced this way (and has been for centuries), but a proprietor’s pride in their product shouldn’t be underestimated and clearly shows through in this wine.

To you, fine Rioja, I say “Welcome to the 90 points under $10 club”.  It’s an exclusive club indeed.

Buy Here: 2009 Montebuena Rioja $7.99

Wine Advocate 90 points

“The 2009 Montebuena is 100% Tempranillo. Dark ruby-colored, it offers an appealing perfume of spice box, leather, tobacco, and blackberry. On the palate it is packed with ripe fruit, has outstanding concentration, and impeccable balance. It is a great bargain that offers a sneak preview of the great 2009 vintage in Rioja and northern Spain in general. It should drink well for 6-8 years.”

Since drinking the 2005 Numanthia Termes (Wine Spectator’s #2 Wine of the Year), I’ve been craving another Tinta de Toro (a.k.a. Tempranillo from the Toro region of Spain).  The 2007 Bodegas Teso La Monja Almirez satisfied my carving in a major way and is a certifiable value for under $25 including shipping.

The Rioja region has a stranglehold on the Tempranillo grape, but I love the style made in the Toro region, which tends to be more bright and a little less rustic and earthy; more of a New World style.  This particular example holds true to those traits with a bright, expressive nose and rich mouthfeel complimented with sweet fruit.  The finish has a spicy, tannic bite that suggests that this wine will age nicely, mellowing out and developing more complexity in the next 2-4 years.  Further evidence of its ageability is that it opened up significantly the second night.

I drank this tonight with fettuccine coated with a homemade tomato sauce and topped with Parmesan encrusted chicken.  The pasta was a perfect compliment to the wine (yes, I consider food an accessory to wine), with enough acid to cut through the tomato sauce and enough structure to hold up to the pasta.  Enjoy it with pasta or enjoy it alone.  Either way enjoy it before it’s gone.

LA Wine Co. already has the lowest price in the country.  Adding in the free shipping makes it an unbeatable value.

Buy Here: 2007 Bodegas Teso La Monja Almirez $23.95

Wine Advocate 91 points

“The grapes for the 2007 Almirez came from 30-year-old ungrafted head pruned vines. The wine was aged for 12 months in one-year-old French oak. Deep crimson-colored, it displays an expressive nose of spice box, espresso, plum, and blackberry compote. Full-bodied on the palate with layers of savory black fruits, lots of spice, and enough fine-grained tannin to evolve for 1-2 years, it will drink beautifully from 2011 to 2019. It is an excellent value that over-delivers in a big way.

Bodegas Teso La Monja is the Eguren family’s new project in Toro featuring a state of the art winery and old vines of Tinta de Toro (Tempranillo). The sandy soils here meant that phylloxera never took hold so that most of the vines are ungrafted.”