An ongoing tasting of wines under the $10 mark, accessible in Vancouver, that we will post about regardless of whether we loved it or it was absolutely putrid. We will wade through bottles of bad plonk to find those hidden gems around town and hope that in doing this, you won’t have to do the same.

Lujuria ‘06 (Merlot/Monastrell) - Yecla, Spain

The back label of this wine reads:
“A blend of Merlot and Monastrell with rich dark fruit flavours and soft tannins provokes and overwhelming desire that finishes in pleasure and delight. Pure Lujuria”

Hot choice of words to put on a wine bottle (lujuria translates to lust)…okay, I’m intrigued. Overall the packaging is quite sharp.

The wine focuses big on the dark characters - blackberry, black cherries, prunes, real licorice and a slight dustiness. It finishes very dry and unfortunately a little hot (leaving a medicinal cherry cough syrup aftertaste).

I’m not crazy about this wine and wouldn’t buy it again, but it does have some qualities I admire and is by no means an awful drink. Its nice to see a truly dry Spanish red at this price point (the last couple I’ve had seemed to have some sugar present); it will easily handle big flavours set along side it on the dinner table.

Lujuria is widely available at the BCLDB for $9.99. I had a couple glasses while listening to some heavy sythno-pop from the new Discovery LP album….that seemed to make it more enjoyable.