Chocolate Lover's Spanish Wines

I decided to let you all in on some of my favorite wines, starting with some very well priced, Spanish wines.

For an every day wine, I love the Juan Gil Monastrell. Not only does this wine come with a beautiful silver label, it is 100% Monastrell, harvested from 40 year old parcels in the sandy, rocky, chalky soil in the Jumilla of south-eastern Spain. The producer talks about red berried and sweet tannins, but for some reason, whenever I drink it, I taste fruit right up front and finish with a light chocolate taste. So, for you chocolate lovers, give it try.

Another favorite is the Rotllan Torra Priorat Reserva. My daughter discovered this from her neighborhood wine store on the Lower East Side in Manhattan. She brought it home and hands down, took the number one position at one of my Spanish wine tastings in my cellar. This Grenacha blend from the Priorat region is full of delicious fruit, dances on your tongue for well over 20 seconds, and finishes with an even deeper, darker chocolate flavor than even the Juan Gil. For the best result, decant the wine for at least two hours; you would be fine with three. It's like magic, believe me.

And before you accuse me of tasting chocolate in all wines, there is only one other wine that I have tasted with this amazing chocolate flavor. It was a 1997 Pio Cesare Barolo. Now that would be an expensive adventure.

Go buy the two bottles and tell me what you think. Or let me know about your favorite Spanish wines.