Wine Pick: Telmo Rodriguez Vina 105 2013

This flavourful Spanish wine will only set you back a twenty

Now it’s January, and we are back (at least until the resolve wears thin) to belt-tightening and looking to save a few bucks here and there. That’s where our awards list can help. Seventeen of B.C.’s sharpest palates have selected 115 wines that are not only delicious and distinctive but of colossal value too. Like this gem from Spain that delivers a wallop of flavour (to match your penny-pinching root veg potage) for twenty bucks. 

Telmo Rodriguez is Spain’s most cherished winemaker, revered for making wines that uphold local tradition in many forgotten regions of the country. Vina 105 from rugged high altitude Cigales in old Castile is a classic example. Unirrigated, organically-farmed old vine tempranillo (juicy, fresh) and garnacha (ripe, full) grapes are blended to produce a bright and richly satisfying wine that combines pure raspberry fruit and rustic undertones of herbs and grilled meat on a smoky fire. Aged in stainless steel to preserve its fruity freshness (somewhat unusual in oak-obsessed Spain), this is a telling illustration of Telmo’s métier: using modern tools to preserve and enhance tradition. Perfect with fragrant, juicy lamb shank, rustic pot roast, or thrifty split pea and ham soup.

Telmo Rodriguez Viña 105 2013 | Spain | $19.79