This Spanish wine has a deep ruby/purple colour with a nose of sweet blackberries, smokey fruit and espresso.

The palate is full-bodied and well balanced with ripe tannins and a long tasty finish. It's 14% alcohol and should go well with most red meat dishes particularly lamb.

The wine's provenance is Jumilla in the Murcia region of eastern Spain. It's a dry area with sandy lime-rich soil. It's very hot so the vines are planted at the higher altitudes. The grapes for this wine were grown at 500 metres.

The monastrell grape variety (the mourvedre of France) from which this wine was chiefly made is the main grape of Jumilla - 87% of the plantings. Garnacha is next and forms 10% of the blend in this wine.

Typically the wine was fermented in tank for five days. The grapes were then pressed and the wine transferred to French oak barrels for six months maturation after malolactic fermentation. This bottle came from Oddbins priced at £5.99.

In the same store at the same price is a formidable cabernet/merlot from Australian Grant Burge. This is a Barrossa Valley wine full of ripe blackcurrant, mint and green leaf with subtle oak adding complexity. It's interesting to compare the two wines - old and new world.