Wine alert!

It’s red wine season. I know this because the sun goes down by 5pm and there’s no better way to whittle away the next 16 hours of darkness than with a sophisticated syrah and some not-so-sophisticated friends.

If you like reds as much as I do, you’re going to like the sound of this: some innovative importers have managed to bring an amazing selection of Spanish wines — from the region made famous by Don Quixote no less — to BC liquor stores. I went to a tasting by AIS Wine Imports this past Monday at Boneta in Gastown and had a full case of Hispanic panic. It turns out I love Spanish wines almost as much as I love Spanish men. Who knew.

Here’s some more good news: these are value-driven wines — you should be able to find many of them in stores in Vancouver for under $20.

My favourites by far were the 2003 Bodegas Yuntero Selección Reserva

and the 2009 Vitivinos Anunciación Azua

Want to see what other wines will be joining these two in stores near you? Click here.

And if you want to taste before you buy, here is a link to tastings happening throughout BC over the next little while.

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