One of my favorite offerings from the Bodegas Borsao is the 6,000-case cuvee of the 2010 Tres Picos. Made from 100% Garnacha aged in equal parts stainless steel and French oak, this is the Bodegas Borsao’s interpretation of Chateauneuf du Pape. (But when’s the last time you saw a bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape priced at $17 – about 30 years ago?) Deep notes of roasted herbs, sweet black cherries and raspberries, peppers and spice soar from the glass of this dark ruby/purple-tinged wine. Full-bodied, rich, ripe, silky textured, pure and long, this unbelievable value should drink well for 3-4 years.

Glass-staining purple.  Lively, faintly medicinal aromas of cherry, blueberry and licorice, plus hints of smoky herbs and flowers.  Juicy and expansive, offering sweet, deeply pitched bitter cherry and dark berry flavors supported by a taut spine of acidity and fine-grained tannins.  Finishes with powerful spicy thrust and suggestions of candied flowers and woodsmoke.  This could pass for a northern Rhone wine, and a really good one at that.  (JR)

This rich red is brimming with raspberry jam, chocolate, licorice and wild herb flavors. Firm tannins are well-integrated and buoyed by orange peel acidity. A lively modern style. Drink now through 2015. 5,000 cases imported. –TM

Floral, with berry aromas, it’s also quite charred and oaky, with mocha. It feels weighty despite displaying prickly acidity, and there’s a resiny feel to the palate as well. The flavors of baking spice, chocolate and blackberry run aside barrel-driven flavors. This is a big, oaky Garnacha. - M.S.