Luzon Jumilla

Grapes: Monastrell (65 percent), syrah (35 percent)

Region: Jumilla, central Spain

Vintage: 2007

Price: $8.99

In the glass: Luzon is a deep garnet-red color with an opaque core going out into a finely light-garnet tinted rim definition and fairly high viscosity.

On the nose: The wine has a big, spicy, peppery nose upfront with crushed bramble fruit, sloe juice, boysenberry liqueur, crushed pink peppercorns right off a California pepper tree, and a juicy fresh vanilla-laced characteristic that hints of new American oak.

On the palate: Luzon is a spicy fruit bomb with tons of crushed blackberry, elder fruit, marionberry marmalade, definite cracked black pepper spice components, massive phenolics and definite power and juiciness. The midpalate has a significant streak of black English licorice and spice-laden black fruit going into a powerful and lengthy finish via some nice mature forward tannins and fairly well-balanced fruit.

Odds and ends: This wine was the No. 1 rated value by Wine Enthusiast Magazine last year and earned a 90 point score. I have tasted this in its previous incarnations, but only now do I feel it deserves to be reviewed. Luzon’s blend is interesting in that it is a Spanish version of something that might have been made in the southern Rhone in France, but has a little more oomph on both the nose and palate. It is a wine made for food, and it demands some hearty beef. Since the weather is all set for grilling, there’s a steak out there somewhere looking for Luzon. Drink it now through 2011.

Gil Lempert-Schwarz’s wine column appears Wednesdays. Write him at P.O. Box 50749, Henderson, NV 89016-0749, or e-mail him at gil@winevegas.com.